New York State
Department of Labor

Albany, NY (March 09, 2011) -

New data show that New York State’s private sector added 95,100 jobs from the start of the state’s economic recovery in December 2009 through December 2010. This was 24,500 more than initially estimated. The new data also show New York’s private sector lost 335,300 jobs in the state’s recession, which lasted from April 2008 to December 2009. This means the state lost 17,400 fewer jobs during the downturn than first estimated.

Between 2009 and 2010, New York State’s annual average private sector job count grew by 11,500, or 0.2%, to 7,043,400. In contrast, private sector jobs in the U.S. dropped by 0.8%. At the same time, total nonfarm jobs, including government, in New York State fell by 2,400, or less than 0.1%, to 8,553,300, while the national number dropped by 0.8%.

"Our revised data show that New York lost fewer jobs in the recession than we first estimated. We also added more jobs during the current recovery than earlier calculated. Our state’s economy outperformed the nation with stronger job growth and a lower unemployment rate in 2010," said Rod Fortran, Bureau Chief for Labor Market Information, Division of Research and Statistics.

Jobs data are revised at the end of each year for all states and the nation as more complete information comes in from Unemployment Insurance tax records. This process is called "benchmarking." Jobs data back to April 2009 were revised. March 2010 is called the "reference month." Data for March 2010 and earlier will not change. Estimates for April 2010 and later may yet change during the next round of annual revisions in early 2012.

Monthly labor force data, including unemployment rates, are also revised at the end of each year, using methods set by the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. After revision, the annual statewide unemployment rate grew from 8.4% in 2009 to 8.6% in 2010 -- the state’s highest annual level since 1992. However, the statewide rate was still lower than the comparable rate in the nation in 2010 (9.6%). The revised data also show that the number of unemployed in New York State climbed -- from 813,300 in 2009 to 824,100 in 2010. This is the highest statewide level on record, going back to 1976.

Job data for metropolitan areas: 2009 - 2010

Job growth in the state in 2010 was centered in New York City, which saw both its total nonfarm and private sector job counts increase between 2009 and 2010. In contrast, both the suburban Downstate counties and the 52-county Upstate region experienced declines in their total nonfarm and private sector job counts in 2010.

Among the state's 13 metro areas, private sector job growth in 2010 was most rapid in Ithaca (+1.3%) and New York City (+0.8%). Private sector job declines were most pronounced in Binghamton (-2.2%), Albany-Schenectady-Troy (-1.0%), Syracuse (-0.9%), Putnam-Rockland-Westchester (-0.6%), and Utica-Rome (-0.6%).

% Change in Annual Average Job Counts: United States, New York State, Regions, and Metropolitan Areas 2008-2009 and 2009-2010

	Total Nonfarm		Private Sector
	2008 - 2009	2009-2010	2008-2009	2009-2010
*Denotes Downstate area.
New York State	-2.7%	-0.0%	-3.4%	+0.2%
United States	-4.4%	-0.8%	-5.3%	-0.8%
Regions
Downstate (10-county area)	-2.8%	+0.2%	-3.5%	+0.4%
New York City	-2.7%	+0.4%	-3.2%	+0.8%
Suburban Counties	-3.2%	-0.3%	-4.0%	-0.4%
Upstate (52-county area)	-2.6%	-0.4%	-3.3%	-0.3%
Metro Areas	-2.5%	-0.4%	-3.2%	-0.3%
Non-metro Counties	-2.9%	-0.2%	-3.9%	-0.1%
Metropolitan Areas
Albany-Schenectady-Troy	-2.1%	-1.3%	-2.6%	-0.9%
Binghamton	-3.0%	-1.8%	-4.2%	-2.2%
Buffalo-Niagara Falls	-2.5%	-0.1%	-3.1%	0.0%
Glens Falls	-2.0%	-0.9%	-3.5%	-0.2%
Ithaca	-0.3%	+0.9%	-1.6%	+1.3%
Kingston	-2.7%	-0.7%	-3.8%	-0.2%
Nassau-Suffolk*	-2.9%	-0.1%	-3.8%	-0.3%
New York City*	-2.7%	+0.4%	-3.2%	+0.8%
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown	-2.6%	-0.1%	-3.3%	+0.2%
Putnam-Rockland-Westchester*	-3.8%	-0.7%	-4.5%	-0.6%
Rochester	-2.7%	+0.1%	-3.2%	+0.1%
Syracuse	-3.0%	-0.7%	-3.8%	-0.9%
Utica-Rome	-2.0%	-0.2%	-2.4%	-0.6%

Job data by industry: 2009-2010

Statewide job data by industry in 2009 and 2010 are presented below. Educational and health services added the most jobs (+39,000) of any private sector industry between 2009 and 2010. Gains in this sector were centered in health care and social assistance (+24,900). Leisure and hospitality added the second highest number of jobs (+20,300), with gains focused in accommodation and food services (+20,800).

Manufacturing experienced the greatest losses (-19,100) between 2009 and 2010, with durable goods shedding the most jobs (-13,300). Construction had the second largest number of job losses (-19,000), which were centered in specialty trade contractors (-14,300). Government lost 13,900 jobs from 2009 to 2010. Government job losses were concentrated at the local (-16,000) and state (-3,400) levels.

Change in Annual Average Jobs by Industry:
New York State, 2009-2010
(data in thousands)

	Annual Average Jobs		Net	%
	2009	2010	Change	Change
Total Nonfarm	8,555.7	8,553.3	-2.4%	0.0%
Private Sector	7,031.9	7,043.4	+11.5	+0.2%
Natural Resources & Mining	5.4	5.4	0.0	0.0%
Construction	324.5	305.5	-19.0	-5.9%
Manufacturing	475.9	456.8	-19.1	-4.0%
Durable Goods	280.8	267.5	-13.3	-4.7%
Non-durable Goods	195.1	189.3	-5.8	-3.0%
Trade, Trans. & Utilities	1,457.5	1,456.7	-0.8	-0.1%
Wholesale Trade	329.6	325.4	-4.2	-1.3%
Retail Trade	863.7	873.1	+9.4	+1.1%
Trans., Warehousing & Utilities	264.1	258.1	-6.0	-2.3%
Information	259.5	252.0	-7.5	-2.9%
Financial Activities	676.9	665.9	-11.0	-1.6%
Professional & Business Services	1,090.5	1,100.0	+9.5	+0.9%
Educational & Health Services	1,664.7	1,703.7	+39.0	+2.3%
Educational Services	383.3	397.3	+14.0	+3.7%
Health Care & Social Assistance	1,281.4	1,306.3	+24.9	+1.9%
Leisure & Hospitality	712.6	732.9	+20.3	+2.8%
Other Services	364.6	364.8	+0.2	+0.1%
Government	1,523.8	1,509.9	-13.9	-0.9%
Federal	126.8	132.2	+5.4	+4.3%
State	261.2	257.8	-3.4	-1.3%
Local	1,135.8	1,119.8	-16.0	-1.4%

January 2011 Job Numbers

In January 2011, New York State's seasonally adjusted private sector job count increased over the month by 6,600, or 0.1%, to 7,079,800. Since the state's economic recovery began in December 2009, the private sector has regained 101,700, or 30%, of the 335,300 jobs lost during the recession (April 2008 through December 2009). The statewide total nonfarm job count (private plus public sectors) also increased over the month, by 3,400, or less than 0.1%, to 8,561,300 in January 2011.

Note: When comparing different months, seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid comparison; for example, December 2010 versus December 2011. Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month; for example, January 2010 versus January 2011.

1) Unemployment rates (seasonally adjusted)

New York State's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up, from 8.2% in December 2010 to 8.3% in January 2011. This was due to an increase in the number of people entering the labor force and looking for work. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped from 9.4% in December to 9.0% in January. New York City's rate increased from 8.8% in December 2010 to 8.9% in January 2011, while the rate outside of New York City remained unchanged at 7.8% in January.

2) Regular Unemployment Insurance, Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) and Extended Benefits (EB) data (not seasonally adjusted):

Some important changes recently occurred in the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) and the Extended Benefits (EB) programs. Federal legislation was signed into law, which extended the EUC08 program and 100% federal funding of the EB program through the end of 2011. In order for New Yorkers to receive EB, the NYS Legislature will have to enact Governor Cuomo's program bill.

For the EUC08 program:

• For the three months ending January 2011, New York State's average unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) was 8.3%.
• Because New York State's average unemployment rate for the three months ending in June 2010 fell below 8.5%, EUC08 Tier 4 benefits are available only to people who exhausted Tier 3 by August 15, 2010. People who exhausted Tier 3 after that date moved directly into the EB program.
• Based on the latest amendments to federal law, to qualify for EUC08 Tier 1 people must exhaust regular UI benefits by December 25, 2011. They must claim EUC Tier 1 by January 1, 2012.
• To qualify for EUC08 Tiers 2 and 3, people must exhaust Tier 1 or Tier 2 by January 1, 2012. Beneficiaries in the EUC08 program may continue to collect UI from the tier of EUC that they are in on January 8, 2012. They can collect until those benefits run out, or until June 10, 2012, whichever comes first, but they may not move to the next tier of EUC08.

For the federally funded EB program:

• People may not claim benefits under the EB program after January 8, 2012. We cannot pay any benefits under the EB program for periods of unemployment after that date.
• If the state's three-month average unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) falls below 8.0%, then the number of weeks of EB available drops from 20 to 13.

Use the department's online Unemployment Insurance calculator to estimate the amount of unemployment benefits due. See the calculator on the Department of Labor's web site or go here: http://www.labor.ny.gov/ui/claimantinfo/UIBenefitsCalculator.shtm

See the table below for beneficiary data for these programs. During the week that included January 12, 2011, 558,889 people (including out-of-state claimants) received regular UI, EUC08, or EB. This includes 512,235 who live in New York State. Residents who received benefits under these programs made up 65% of the total unemployed in the state in January 2011.

*Data are preliminary and subject to revision. Note: EUC08 Tier 1 began 7/13/2008; Tier 2 began 2/22/2009; Tier 3 began 11/15/2009; Tier 4 began 2/21/2010. EB began 5/24/2009.
Program and Data Item*	January 2011	December 2010	January 2010
Regular UI, reference week beneficiaries	261,591	239,926	293,132
Regular UI, year-to-date beneficiaries	371,207	922,241	407,283
EUC08, reference week beneficiaries	210,356	214,423	335,232
EUC08, year-to-date beneficiaries	255,540	726,740	378,856
EB, reference week beneficiaries	86,914	103,457	26,587
EB, year-to-date beneficiaries	110,863	211,220	32,822

3) Jobs data (seasonally adjusted):

New York State and the nation, December 2010 - January 2011

Note: All data reported in this section are seasonally adjusted. These data are most useful when comparing different months; for example, December 2010 versus January 2011.

The number of private sector jobs in New York State increased by 6,600, or 0.1%, to 7,079,800 in January 2011, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Nationally, the number of private sector jobs rose less than 0.1% over the same period.

Between December 2010 and January 2011, the total nonfarm job count (private and public sectors) in the state increased by 3,400, or less than 0.1%, to 8,561,300 after seasonal adjustment. Nationally, the total number of seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs increased by less than 0.1% in January 2011.

4) Jobs data (not seasonally adjusted):

New York State and the nation, January 2010 - January 2011

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, January 2010 versus January 2011.

New York State: Total nonfarm jobs                     +45,500
New York State: Private sector jobs                      +76,000

Since January 2010, the number of nonfarm jobs (private and public sectors) in New York State increased by 45,500, or 0.5%. The number of private sector jobs in the state increased by 76,000, or 1.1%, over the last year. Additional industry detail for New York State is shown in the table on the next page.

Nationally, the number of nonfarm jobs increased by 0.7% since January 2010. The number of private sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 1.1% over the same period.

Highlights among NYS sectors with job gains since January 2010:

• Educational and health services added the most private sector jobs (+29,800) of any sector over the past year. Within that sector, job gains were greatest in health care and social assistance (+19,000), particularly ambulatory health care services (+11,400).
• Professional and business services (+27,600) had the second largest increase in jobs since January 2010. Sector job gains were greatest in administrative and support services (+14,700).
• The third largest increase in jobs occurred in leisure and hospitality (+14,700), where gains were concentrated in accommodation and food services (+12,600).
• Over-the-year employment gains in trade, transportation and utilities (+12,300) were centered in wholesale and retail trade (+13,200).

Highlights among NYS sectors with job losses since January 2010:

• Over the past year, government lost the most jobs (-30,500) of any sector. Losses were greatest at the local level (-17,800). Losses also occurred at the state (-7,500) and federal (-5,200) levels.
• Construction had the second largest decline in jobs (-14,200), with losses concentrated in specialty trade contractors (-10,500).
• Manufacturing had the third greatest jobs decline (-7,700). Sector job losses were centered in durable goods (-6,100), especially transportation equipment (-1,400).

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, January 2010 versus January 2011.

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. We survey 18,000 business establishments to get jobs data for New York State by industry. The jobs data do not include agricultural workers, the self-employed, unpaid family workers and domestic workers in private households.

See State and Area Job Data (opens in new window)
See State and Area Unemployment Rates (opens in new window)
See Jobs and Unemployment Fact Sheet (opens in new window)
See Labor Market Overview (opens in new window)