New York State
Department of Labor

Albany, NY (March 24, 2011) -

New York State's economy gained 100 private sector jobs, or less than 0.1%, in February 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, the State Labor Department reported today. The state has added 102,500 private sector jobs since the current economic recovery began in December 2009. The total nonfarm job count in New York increased by 4,600, or 0.1%, in February 2011. The nonfarm job count tracks all jobs in the private and public sectors. It does not count the self-employed or workers on farms.

New York State's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.2% in February 2011, unchanged from January. The number of unemployed New York State residents dropped slightly -- from 790,500 in January to 787,400 in February 2011.

"The New York State economy has added 102,500 private sector jobs during the current recovery. Revised data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that New York State's private job growth of 11,500 in 2010 was the largest of any state in the U.S. In addition, our percentage rate of growth was 0.2%, which ranked us 5th highest of the 50 states," said Rod Fortran, Bureau Chief for Labor Market Information, Division of Research and Statistics.

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

1) Unemployment rates (seasonally adjusted)

New York State's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.2% in February 2011. (Note: The state's January 2011 unemployment rate was revised downward from 8.3% to 8.2%). The U.S. unemployment rate dropped slightly, from 9.0% in January to 8.9% in February 2011. New York City's rate held steady at 8.9%, while the rate outside of New York City decreased from 7.8% in January to 7.7% in February 2011.

 

2) Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI), the four tiers of federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) and Extended Benefits (EB) data:

 

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, Governor Cuomo introduced program bill A.6091/S.3928. The NYS Legislature recently passed this bill, and the Governor is waiting to receive it from the Legislature.

For the EUC08 program:

• For the three months ending February 2011, New York State's average unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) was 8.2%.
• 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 13 weeks of 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 February 12, 2011, 550,043 people (including out-of-state claimants) received regular UI, EUC08, or EB. This includes 504,010 who live in New York State. Residents who received benefits under these programs made up 64% of the total unemployed in the state in February 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*	February 2011	January 2011	February 2010
Regular UI, reference week beneficiaries	268,833	261,591	297,393
Regular UI, year-to-date beneficiaries	431,789	371,207	477,147
EUC08, reference week beneficiaries	210,403	210,356	350,615
EUC08, year-to-date beneficiaries	285,564	255,540	423,274
EB, reference week beneficiaries	70,889	86,914	16,556
EB, year-to-date beneficiaries	125,111	110,863	33,373

 

3) Jobs data (seasonally adjusted):

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

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

The table below compares the over-the-month change in total nonfarm and private sector jobs in New York State and the United States between January and February 2011 (seasonally adjusted). 

 

4) Jobs data (not seasonally adjusted):

New York State, U.S., Major Regions, and Metro Areas: February 2010 - February 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, February 2010 versus February 2011.

The table below compares the over-the-year change in total nonfarm and private sector jobs in New York State, the U.S., the Upstate and Downstate regions, and metro areas between February 2010 and February 2011 (not seasonally adjusted).

 

Job highlights since February 2010:

• Since February 2010, the number of nonfarm jobs (private and public sectors) in New York State increased by 47,200, or 0.6%. The number of nonfarm jobs in the U.S. increased by 1.0% over the same period.



• The number of private sector jobs in the state increased by 79,300, or 1.2%, over the last year. The number of private sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 1.4% over the same time frame.



• Within New York State, private sector job growth was strongest in the 10-county Downstate region, which increased by 1.4%. Regional gains were driven by New York City (+1.6%).



• The 52-county Upstate region also added private sector jobs over the year (+0.7%), with gains centered in metro areas (+0.8%).



• Over the past year, private sector employment increased most rapidly in these metro areas:
  • Kingston (+3.4%)
  • Glens Falls (+2.8%)
  • New York City (+1.6%)
  • Nassau-Suffolk (+1.2%)
  • Rochester (+1.2%)


• Binghamton (-0.5%) was the only metro area in the state to lose private sector jobs between February 2010 and February 2011.

5) Jobs data (not seasonally adjusted):

Change in jobs by major industry sector, February 2010 - February 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, February 2010 versus February 2011.

The table below compares the over-the-year change in jobs in New York State by major industry sector between February 2010 and February 2011 (not seasonally adjusted).

 

Highlights among NYS sectors with job gains since February 2010:

• Educational and health services added the most private sector jobs (+35,500) of any sector over the past year. Within that sector, job gains were greatest in health care and social assistance (+21,200), particularly ambulatory health care services (+13,000).



• Professional and business services (+22,200) had the second largest increase in jobs since February 2010. Sector job gains were greatest in administrative and support services (+6,900).



• The third largest increase in jobs occurred in leisure and hospitality (+14,400), where gains were centered in accommodation and food services (+12,800).



• The job count also increased over the year in trade, transportation and utilities (+11,600). Gains were concentrated in wholesale and retail trade (+12,700).

Highlights among NYS sectors with job losses since February 2010:

• Over the past year, government lost the most jobs (-32,100) of any sector. Losses were greatest at the local level (-20,100), especially at local school districts (-14,600). Employment losses also occurred at the state (-7,400) and federal (-4,600) levels.



• Construction had the second largest jobs decline (-15,600) over the past year, with job losses centered in specialty trade contractors (-12,700).



• Since February 2010, manufacturing had the third largest jobs decline (-6,600). Sector job losses were concentrated in durable goods (-4,900), especially fabricated metal products (-1,200).

 

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.

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