NYS Unemployment Rate Remained at 8.8% in February
New York State's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 8.8% in February 2010. The number of unemployed state residents decreased slightly, from 851,400 in January to 845,100 in February 2010.
The state's private sector job count peaked in April 2008. Since then, the state has lost 321,900 jobs. That is about 80% of the net jobs added between 2003 and 2008.
"New York State's labor market continues to improve. We've now added jobs for two consecutive months and the state's unemployment rate has leveled off. However, following previous recessions, it has taken the state about five years, on average, to regain all of the jobs lost during a downturn," said Peter A. Neenan, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Research and Statistics.
Note: When comparing different months, seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid comparison; for example, January 2010 versus February 2010. Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month; for example, February 2009 versus February 2010.
1.) Unemployment rates (seasonally adjusted)
New York State's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held steady at 8.8% in February 2010. The U.S. jobless rate was also unchanged in February, remaining at 9.7%. New York City's rate decreased from 10.4% in January to 10.2% in February 2010. The rate in the state outside of New York City increased from 7.7% in January to 7.8% in February 2010.
| February 2010* | January 2010 | February 2009 | |
| New York State | 8.8 | 8.8 | 7.5 |
| United States | 9.7 | 9.7 | 8.2 |
| New York City | 10.2 | 10.4 | 8.0 |
| NYS, excluding NYC | 7.8 | 7.7 | 7.1 |
| *Data are preliminary and subject to change. |
2.) Regular Unemployment Insurance, Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) and Extended Benefits (EB) data (not seasonally adjusted)
The regular Unemployment Insurance (Regular UI), the four tiers of the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08), and the state Extended Benefits (EB) programs are described below.
|
Program Name |
Description | Maximum Weeks of Benefits |
|
Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI) |
Individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Must remain ready, willing and able to work, and are actively seeking employment. |
Up to 26 weeks |
|
Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) Tiers 1 and 2 |
The federal EUC08 program enacted on June 30, 2008 provided claimants who exhausted their regular UI with 13 weeks of emergency benefits. Federal legislation signed on December 21, 2008 added 20 additional weeks of emergency benefits. |
Up to 33 weeks |
|
Extended Benefits (EB) |
State legislation signed into law on May 20, 2009 provided additional weeks of Extended Benefits (EB) for individuals who exhausted their EUC08 benefits. |
Up to 20 weeks. |
|
Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) Tiers 3 and 4 |
Federal legislation signed on November 6, 2009 added 20 additional weeks of emergency benefits. |
Up to 20 weeks. |
Reference week beneficiaries data for these programs are noted in the table below. The reference week includes the 12th of the month. A total of 607,583 people in New York State received regular UI, EUC08, or EB in February 2010. They accounted for 72% of the total unemployed in the state in February 2010.
| Program and Data Item* | February 2010 | January 2010 | February 2009 |
| Regular UI, reference week beneficiaries |
297,846 |
293,642 |
320,282 |
| Regular UI, year-to-date beneficiaries |
480,398 |
408,878 |
485,366 |
| EUC08, reference week beneficiaries |
350,614 |
335,232 |
74,410 |
| EUC08, year-to-date beneficiaries |
423,274 |
378,856 |
169,642 |
| EB, reference week beneficiaries |
16,556 |
26,587 |
NA |
| EB, year-to-date beneficiaries |
33,373 |
32,822 |
NA |
| * Data are preliminary and subject to revision. The regular UI, EUC08, and EB beneficiary data may contain duplicate counts as people move from one program to another. |
| Note: EUC08 Tier 1 began 7/13/2008; Tier 2 began 2/22/2009; Tier 3 began 11/15/2009. Extended Benefits began 5/24/2009. |
3.) Jobs data (seasonally adjusted):
New York State and the nation, January 2010 - February 2010
Note: All data reported in this section are seasonally adjusted. These data are most useful when comparing different months; for example, January 2010 versus February 2010.
The number of private sector jobs in New York State increased by 8,100, or 0.1%, to 6,991,400 in February 2010, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Nationally, the number of private sector jobs decreased by less than 0.1% over the same period.
Between January and February 2010, the nonfarm jobs count (private and public sectors) in the state climbed by 5,800, or 0.1%, to 8,484,000, after seasonal adjustment. Nationally, the number of seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs decreased by less than 0.1% in February.
4.) Jobs data (not seasonally adjusted):
New York State and the nation, February 2009 - February 2010
Note: All data reported in this section are not seasonally adjusted. The most valid comparisons with this type of data are year-to-year comparisons of the same month; for example, February 2009 versus February 2010.
|
Total nonfarm jobs |
-174,500 | ||
|
Private sector jobs |
-141,900 |
Since February 2009, the number of nonfarm jobs (private and public sectors) in New York State decreased by 174,500, or 2.0%. The number of private sector jobs in the state decreased by 141,900, or 2.0%, over the last year. Additional industry detail for New York State is shown in the table below.
Nationally, the number of nonfarm jobs decreased by 2.5% since February 2009. The number of private sector jobs in the U.S. decreased by 2.9% over the last year.
Highlights among NYS sectors with job gains since February 2009: | ||
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Educational and health services added the most private sector jobs (+21,100) over the year. | |
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Job gains within educational and health services were due to increases in health care and social assistance (+23,300). | |
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Leisure and hospitality was the only other sector to add jobs (+10,800). | |
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Within leisure and hospitality, gains were largest in food services and drinking places (+8,300). | |
Highlights among NYS sectors with job losses since February 2009: | ||
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Trade, transportation and utilities (TTU) lost the most jobs (-39,400). | |
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TTU losses were concentrated in wholesale and retail trade (-29,100). | |
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Manufacturing lost 35,100 jobs. Most losses were in durable goods (-27,300), especially hard hit was computer and electronic products (-7,000). | |
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Construction jobs fell by 33,400. The biggest decline was in specialty trade contractors (-27,300). | |
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Jobs also decreased over the year in government, professional and business services, financial activities, information, other services, and natural resources and mining. | |
| Change in Jobs by Sector, February 2009 – February 2010 | |||
| Sectors With Job Gains: | |||
| Educational & Health Services | +21,100 | ||
| Leisure & Hospitality | +10,800 | ||
| Sectors with Job Losses: | |||
| Trade, Transportation & Utilities | -39,400 | ||
| Manufacturing | -35,100 | ||
| Construction | -33,400 | ||
| Government | -32,600 | ||
| Professional & Business Services | -30,600 | ||
| Financial Activities | -27,700 | ||
| Information | -5,600 | ||
| Other Services | -1,700 | ||
| Natural Resources & Mining | -300 | ||
5.) Major Regions and Metropolitan Areas:
Job Growth and Unemployment Rates (not seasonally adjusted)
Note: All data reported in this section are not seasonally adjusted. The most valid comparisons with this type of data are year-to-year comparisons of the same month; for example, February 2009 versus February 2010.
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Change in Nonfarm and Private Sector Jobs, by Major Region and Metro Area, | |||||||
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February 2009 – February 2010 | |||||||
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(not seasonally adjusted) | |||||||
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Change in Nonfarm Jobs: |
Change in Private Sector Jobs: | ||||||
|
Net |
% |
Net |
% | ||||
| Major Regions: | |||||||
| Downstate NY (10-co. area)* | -124,200 | -2.3 | -98,000 | -2.1 | |||
| Upstate NY (52-co. area) | -51,600 | -1.7 | -47,300 | -2.0 | |||
| Metro Areas: | |||||||
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy | -9,700 | -2.2 | -7,100 | -2.1 | |||
| Binghamton | -3,200 | -2.9 | -3,100 | -3.6 | |||
| Buffalo-Niagara Falls | -6,300 | -1.2 | -6,600 | -1.5 | |||
| Glens Falls | -100 | -0.2 | +100 | +0.3 | |||
| Ithaca | -100 | -0.2 | -100 | -0.2 | |||
| Kingston | -400 | -0.7 | +100 | +0.2 | |||
| Nassau-Suffolk | -12,500 | -1.0 | -10,000 | -1.0 | |||
| New York City | -92,000 | -2.5 | -69,900 | -2.2 | |||
| Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown | -4,800 | -1.9 | -3,800 | -2.0 | |||
| Putnam-Rockland-Westchester | -19,700 | -3.6 | -18,100 | -4.0 | |||
| Rochester | -7,800 | -1.6 | -9,200 | -2.2 | |||
| Syracuse | -5,500 | -1.7 | -4,900 | -1.9 | |||
| Utica-Rome | -1,100 | -0.8 | -900 | -0.9 | |||
| *Includes: New York City; Long Island; and Putnam, Rockland, Westchester counties | |||||||
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Unemployment Rates, by Major Region and Metro Area, | |||
|
February 2009 and February 2010 | |||
|
(not seasonally adjusted) | |||
|
February 2010 |
February 2009 | ||
| Major Regions: | |||
| Downstate NY (10-co. area)* | 9.4 | 8.1 | |
| Upstate NY (52-co. area) | 9.0 | 8.6 | |
| Metro Areas: | |||
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy | 7.7 | 7.2 | |
| Binghamton | 9.5 | 8.6 | |
| Buffalo-Niagara Falls | 9.2 | 9.0 | |
| Glens Falls | 9.8 | 9.4 | |
| Ithaca | 6.0 | 5.8 | |
| Kingston | 8.6 | 8.0 | |
| Nassau-Suffolk | 7.9 | 7.3 | |
| New York City | 10.2 | 8.5 | |
| Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown | 8.6 | 7.8 | |
| Putnam-Rockland-Westchester | 7.7 | 7.1 | |
| Rochester | 8.7 | 8.2 | |
| Syracuse | 9.0 | 8.5 | |
| Utica-Rome | 8.7 | 8.4 | |
| *Includes: New York City; Long Island; and Putnam, Rockland, Westchester counties | |||
Note: Labor force statistics, including the unemployment rate, for New York and every other state are based on statistical regression models specified by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs data for New York are obtained from a survey of 18,000 business establishments. Jobs data exclude agricultural workers, the self-employed, unpaid family workers and domestic workers in private households.
See State and Area Unemployment Rates