New York State
Department of Labor

Albany, NY (September 15, 2011) -

New York State's unemployment rate was 8.0% in August 2011, unchanged from July 2011 - the State Labor Department reported today. The number of unemployed New Yorkers increased slightly over the month -- from 755,900 in July to 756,400 in August 2011.

New York State's private sector job count declined by 30,700, or 0.4%, in August 2011. Most of the state's private sector job losses in August were temporary and related to the Verizon strike, which included 17,000 striking workers in New York. Since the state's economic recovery began in November 2009, New York has recouped 48%, or 160,900, of the private sector jobs lost during the 2008-2009 recession.

"Like the nation as a whole, the state's economic recovery slowed in August. The state's unemployment rate held steady at 8.0% over the month, remaining well below the U.S. rate of 9.1%," said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics.

Note: The data above are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month; for example, August 2010 versus August 2011.

1) Unemployment rates (seasonally adjusted):

In August 2011, New York State's unemployment rate was 8.0%, unchanged from July 2011. Persons on strike are not counted as employed for the establishment payroll survey. The payroll survey determines the job count in the state. Striking workers are, however, counted as employed when calculating labor force statistics and therefore do not impact the unemployment rate. The U.S. unemployment rate also remained unchanged -- at 9.1% -- in August 2011.

 

2) Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI), Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) and Extended Benefits (EB) programs:

During the week that included August 12, 2011, 448,923 people, including 412,530 who live in New York State, received benefits under the regular Unemployment Insurance (UI), Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08), or Extended Benefits (EB) programs. Residents who received benefits under these programs made up 55% of the total unemployed in the state in August 2011.

Currently, the maximum number of weeks of all unemployment benefits available to claimants in New York is 86 weeks. Without Congressional action on the President's American Jobs Act, which would provide extended unemployment benefits through 2012, the last week payable for EB in New York State is the week ending January 8, 2012 and the last week payable for EUC is the week ending June 10, 2012.

People who file a new claim during the week beginning July 4, 2011 or later may only receive up to 26 weeks of regular Unemployment Insurance. Claimants are encouraged to use the Department's online Unemployment Insurance calculator to estimate the maximum number of weeks they may receive. See the calculator on the Department of Labor's web site or go here:http://www.labor.ny.gov/ui/claimantinfo/UIBenefitsCalculator.shtm

 

3) Jobs data (seasonally adjusted):

U.S. and New York State, July 2011 - August 2011

The table below compares the over-the-month change in total nonfarm and private sector jobs in the United States and New York State between July 2011 and August 2011.

 

4) Jobs data (not seasonally adjusted):

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

The table below compares the over-the-year change in total nonfarm and private sector jobs in the United States, New York State, the Upstate and Downstate regions, and metro areas in the state between August 2010 and August 2011.

 

Job highlights since August 2010:

• Since August 2010, the number of private sector jobs in the state increased by 95,400, or 1.3%. Over the same time frame, the nation's private sector job count increased by 1.6%.
• Private sector jobs grew by 0.8% over the past year in the 10-county Downstate region. Job gains in the Downstate region were centered in New York City, which grew by 1.4%.
• In the 52-county Upstate region, private sector jobs grew by 1.0% over the past year. Upstate's employment gains were most rapid in the region's metro areas, which grew by 1.1%.
• Over the past year, the private sector job count grew most rapidly in these metro areas:
  • Ithaca (+3.5%)
  • Rochester (+2.1%)
  • New York City (+1.4%)
  • Utica-Rome (+1.3%)
• These metro areas lost private sector jobs between August 2010 and August 2011: Nassau-Suffolk (-1.0%), Glens Falls (-0.8%), Kingston (-0.4%), and Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown (-0.2%).

5) Jobs data (not seasonally adjusted):

Change in jobs by major industry sector, August 2010 - August 2011

The table below compares the over-the-year change in jobs by major industry sector in New York State between August 2010 and August 2011.

 

Highlights among NYS sectors with job gains since August 2010:

• Educational and health services added the most private sector jobs (+42,100) of any sector in the state between August 2010 and August 2011. Most job gains in that sector were in educational services (+34,200).


• Professional and business (+34,700) had the second largest increase in jobs over the past year. Sector job gains were greatest in administrative and support services (+19,300) and professional, scientific and technical services (+12,200).
• Sector job gains in leisure and hospitality (+18,900) were focused in accommodation and food services (+19,300), especially food services and drinking places (+14,600).

Highlights among NYS sectors with job losses since August 2010:

• The information sector lost more jobs than any other sector (-14,800). Employment declines were greatest in telecommunications (-17,800), due largely to the impact of the Verizon strike.
• The manufacturing job count also declined (-600) over the past year. Factory losses were centered in non-durable goods (-3,500), especially printing and related activities (-2,500).

 

6) Characteristics of the unemployed, New York State (not seasonally adjusted):

The tables below compare the 12-month moving average unemployment rate in New York State by racial/ethnic group and by level of educational attainment. All data come from the Current Population Survey, which is a monthly survey of households conducted by the Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Note: The responsibility for the production of monthly estimates of state and metro area nonfarm employment by industry moved from the Division of Research and Statistics to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), starting with March 2011 estimates. More detailed information on the change is available on the BLS web site.

Many economic data series have a seasonal pattern, which means they tend to occur at the same time each year (e.g., retail jobs usually increase in December). Seasonal adjustment is the process of removing seasonal effects from a data series. This is done to simplify the data so that they may be more easily interpreted and help to reveal true underlying trends. Seasonal adjustment permits comparisons of data from one month to data from any other month.

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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See Jobs and Unemployment Fact Sheet (opens in new window)