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New York State Department of Labor Labor Statistics

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Labor Statistics for the New York City Region Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond Counties

Private sector employment in New York City rose by 82,100, or 2.5 percent, to 3,398,400 for the 12-month period ending April 2013. Job growth occurred in professional and business services (+30,200), education and health services (+27,100), trade, transportation and utilities (+17,900), leisure and hospitality (+5,700), other services (+5,200), and natural resources, mining and construction (+3,200). Job were lost in financial activities (-4,400), manufacturing (-1,400) and information (-1,400). Government jobs fell by 3,200 over the year.

New York City’s private sector job count rose by 35,100 between March and April (not seasonally adjusted) when a gain of 11,600 is typical. The leisure and hospitality sector, which is usually strong in April, surged this year adding 12,400 over the month. Some of these gains reflected purely seasonal factors, as catering operations resumed at the various major and minor league baseball stadiums, and as area basketball and hockey teams extended their seasons by making the playoffs. The full-service restaurant industry, which pulled back sharply post-Sandy, continued a modest recovery, adding 1,300 jobs in April on top of the 1,600 created in March. Employment was also strong in professional and business services, which added 7,900 jobs in April, led by a surge at employment services. As in March, the City’s economy again saw some strength in blue-collar jobs, as construction and wholesale trade both added jobs at a faster than usual pace while manufacturing was basically flat.

The over-the-year picture was positive with six sectors adding jobs while financial activities, manufacturing, and information lost jobs. The City’s two largest sectors – professional and business services and health and educational services – were responsible for two of every three jobs added over the last 12 months. The city’s over-the-year private sector growth rate (+2.5 percent) was above the state’s (+1.9 percent) and the Nation’s (+2.0 percent).

The City’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in April 2013, down from 8.9 percent in March and from 9.4 percent in April 2012. This was New York City’s lowest unemployment rate since March 2009. New York State’s rate was 7.8 percent in April 2013 and the national rate was 7.5 percent. The drop in the City’s unemployment rate was split between an increase in the number of City residents with jobs and a decrease in the size of the labor force. The share of the City's working-age population (16+) who were employed was 54.2 percent in April 2013 down from 54.4 percent in April 2012.

New York City’s seasonally-adjusted total nonfarm employment was 3,943,900. The City has added 275,200 jobs (+7.5%) since the job market bottomed out in November 2009.

Significant Industries in New York City

James Brown
NYS Department of Labor
1 Hudson Square
75 Varick Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212) 775-3330
Fax: (212) 775-3855
E-mail: James.Brown@labor.ny.gov

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