Labor Statistics for the New York City Region
Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond Counties
Private sector employment in New York City rose by 68,700, or 2.1 percent, to 3,274,300 for the 12-month period ending March 2012. Job growth occurred in professional and business services (+29,900), trade, transportation and utilities (+14,400), leisure and hospitality (12,700), financial activities (+6,700), education and health services (+4,500), information (+4,000) and other services (+2,700). Job losses were centered in natural resources, mining and construction (-3,600) and manufacturing (-2,600).
The City's private sector job rose by 26,200 between February and March (not seasonally adjusted), well above the 10-year average gain of 17,100. The above average gain in March was driven by a very large gain in education and health services and continued strength in business and professional services. The information sector added 3,000 jobs in March, well above its normal performance. While this sector has lagged during the recovery, the recent news has mostly been positive with strong gains in book sales, a sharp drop in magazine closings, higher advertising expenditures and a scramble to add studio space as motion picture production booms.
The over-the-year picture is reasonably strong with seven sectors adding jobs while construction, manufacturing and government lost jobs. The job gains have broadened somewhat with three sectors each adding more than 10,000 jobs. The City's over-the-year private sector growth rate (+2.1percent) was in line with the state (+2.1 percent), but slightly above the nation's (+2.0 percent).
The City's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in March 2012, an uptick from February's 9.6 percent and nearly a full percentage point above last March's 8.8 percent. After peaking at 10.0 percent in early 2010, the City's unemployment rate fell steadily till the spring of 2011. However, the decline was primarily caused by a drop in the number of jobseekers rather than rising employment among City residents. With the City's labor force increasing in the second half of 2011, the unemployment rate began slowly rising. Over the first three months of 2012, the number of employed City residents is estimated to have declined by more than 30,000 pushing the unemployment rate from 9.1 percent in December to 9.7 percent in March.
New York State's rate was 8.5 percent in March and the national rate was also 8.2 percent. The share of the City's working-age population participating in the labor market was 59.8 percent in March 2012, little changed from a year earlier.
Of Special Interest to the New York City Region:
- Significant Industries in New York City
- Firm expansions & contractions
- NYC Current Employment Statistics (CES) Latest Month
- NYC Current Employment Statistics (CES) history
- Monthly Borough Labor Force Data
- Revised Borough Labor Force Data
- NYC Benchmark CES data
- NYC Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate history
- Population Estimates
- Why go to school?
- Consumer Price Index (NY Metro)
- Ask a labor law question
James Brown
NYS Department of Labor
1 Hudson Square
75 Varick Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212) 775-3330
Fax: (212) 775-3855
E-mail: James.Brown@labor.ny.gov