New York State
Department of Labor

Albany, NY (May 17, 2012) -

Since the beginning of the state's economic recovery in November 2009, New York State has added 335,100 private sector jobs and regained all of the private sector jobs it lost during the recession, the State Labor Department reported today. New York State's economy added 100 private sector jobs in April 2012. The state's private sector job count now stands at 7,319,600 - an all-time high. Only five states - including New York - have more private sector jobs today than they did before the recession.

Although the state's unemployment rate of 8.5% remained unchanged from March to April 2012, the number of unemployed New Yorkers declined by 3,000 from 810,700 in March to 807,700 in April 2012. In order to have achieved a decline in the unemployment rate from 8.5% to 8.4%, the number of the unemployed would have required a decrease of 4,500.

"The statistics show New York grew and continues to grow jobs in the private sector, and we are seeing that growth reflected in the number of job seekers returning to work. In April, the number of unemployed state residents fell by 3,000," 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, April 2011 versus April 2012.

1) Unemployment rates (seasonally adjusted):

The state's unemployment rate for April 2012 held steady at 8.5%. The number of unemployed New Yorkers decreased over the month -- from 810,700 in March to 807,700 in April 2012.

 

2) Jobs data (seasonally adjusted):

U.S. and New York State, March 2012 - April 2012

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 March 2012 and April 2012.

 

3) Jobs data (not seasonally adjusted):

U.S., New York State, Major Regions, and Metro Areas: April 2011 - April 2012

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 April 2011 and April 2012.

 

Job highlights since April 2011:

• Since April 2011, the number of private sector jobs in the state increased by 115,900, or 1.6%. Over the same time frame, the nation's private sector job count increased by 1.8%.
• In the 10-county Downstate region, private sector jobs grew by 1.6% over the past year. Within the Downstate region, jobs grew by 2.0% in New York City and by 0.6% in the suburban counties.
• In the 52-county Upstate region, the private sector job count grew by 0.9% over the past year. Job growth was most rapid in the region's metro areas (+1.0%).
• Over the past year, private sector jobs grew most rapidly in these metro areas in the state:
  • Glens Falls (+7.4%)
  • Kingston (+4.6%)
  • Binghamton (+3.5%)
  
  
  • Utica-Rome (+3.2%)
  • New York City (+2.0%)
• Ithaca (-6.8%) and Elmira (-4.2%) were the only metro areas in the state to lose private sector jobs between April 2011 and April 2012.

4) Jobs data (not seasonally adjusted):

Change in jobs by major industry sector, April 2011 - April 2012

The table below compares the over-the-year change in jobs by major industry sector in New York State between April 2011 and April 2012.

 

Highlights among NYS sectors with job gains since April 2011:

• Professional and business services added the most jobs (+51,400) of any sector between April 2011 and April 2012. Sector job gains over this period were focused in professional, scientific and technical services (+30,900), especially in accounting, tax preparation and payroll services (+8,400) and management, scientific and technical consulting (+7,800).
• Private educational and health services (+31,100) had the second largest jobs increase over the past year. Sector employment gains occurred in both educational services (+19,700) and health care and social assistance (+11,400).
• Leisure and hospitality added 16,100 jobs over the past year, with sector gains centered in accommodation and food services.

Highlights among NYS sectors with job losses since April 2011:

• Over the past year, information lost more jobs (-4,800) than any other sector in the state. Most sector employment losses were in publishing (-1,700).
• The construction sector lost 4,600 jobs over the past year. Sector job losses were concentrated in heavy and civil engineering construction (-3,200) and specialty trade contractors (-2,100).

 

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

For New York, during the week that included April 12, 2012, there were 464,099 people (including 426,141 who live in the state) who received benefits under:

• Regular Unemployment Insurance (UI),
• Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC), or
• Federal Extended Benefits (EB) programs.

New Yorkers who received unemployment insurance made up 53% of the total unemployed in the state in April 2012.

Currently, Unemployment Insurance claimants in New York State may receive up to 93 weeks of benefits. In February 2012, Congress passed an extension of EUC and EB through December 2012. However, beginning in early June, there will be significant changes to the maximum number of weeks of benefits available to the unemployed in New York State.

• As of June 4, 2012, UI claimants in New York State will be eligible for EUC Tier 4 because the 3-month average seasonally adjusted unemployment rate reached 8.5%. EUC Tier 4 provides a maximum of 6 weeks of benefits.
• As of June 11, 2012, claimants in New York State will no longer be eligible for EB since the 3-month average seasonally adjusted unemployment rate no longer meets federal criteria. This represents a loss of 20 weeks of federally funded benefits. Most EB claimants will move to EUC Tier 4 on June 4, 2012. (Note: To qualify for EB, the 3-month average seasonally adjusted rate must equal or exceed 110% of the corresponding rate in each of the past three years. New York does not qualify because the corresponding rate in 2009 was 7.8%, and 110% of that equals 8.6 %.)

Taken together, these two changes will result in a net reduction of 14 weeks of benefits in New York State, leaving a maximum of 79 weeks of benefits starting in June. See the table below for the maximum number of weeks available under the new federal regulations.

 

People who file a new claim during the week that begins June 25, 2012 or later are likely to only receive up to 26 weeks of regular UI. We encourage people to use the Department's online Unemployment Insurance calculator to estimate how many weeks they may receive. See the calculator on the State Department of Labor's website or go here: http://www.labor.ny.gov/ui/claimantinfo/UIBenefitsCalculator.shtm

 

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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