With some minor variations, the state Labor Department’s jobs report for July is almost a repeat of the previous month’s numbers.
On a year-to-year basis, comparing figures for last month to those for July 2016, the seasonally unadjusted data released today reflect the following trends:
- New York as a whole gained 151,500 jobs—a growth rate of 1.9 percent statewide, versus a national employment increase of 1.7 percent, which was identical to the respective state and national percentage figures for June;
- 89 percent of New York’s net new private jobs (134,500) were created in downstate’s 12-county Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District, including New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley;
- after slumping in the second half of 2016 and earlier this year, private employment growth in New York City has rebounded strongly, to 2.8 percent (105,500 added jobs);
- upstate’s largest metro areas had weak growth, including private-employment declines in Buffalo-Niagara Falls (-0.2 percent) and Rochester (-0.3 percent) and weak growth rates (0.4 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively) in Albany-Schenectady-Troy and Rochester; and
- outside the 12-county downstate region, the fastest growth rates were in Kingston, (2.5 percent), Watertown-Ft. Drum (up 1.6 percent) and Utica-Rome (up 1.1 percent).
On a statewide basis, the largely non-profit private educational and health services sector sector accounted for fully half of New York’s net new private jobs. At the other extreme, the state lost another 20,300 manufacturing jobs, according to the Labor Department data. During the same period, preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate the manufacturing sector nationwide added 63,000 jobs.
While the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was decreasing slightly on a monthly basis, from 4.4 percent in June to 4.3 percent in July, New York’s unemployment rate moved in the opposite direction—from 4.5 percent to 4.7 percent on a month-to-month basis. The statewide rate was still slightly lower than the 4.9 percent rate for July 2016. Proportionally, unemployment in New York City increased slightly faster than the statewide rate, from 4.4 percent to 4.7 percent between June and July.
You may also like
New York Schools will Spend More and Deliver Less – Again
As voters across New York head to the polls to decide their local school budgets, the big question – why New York schools deliver poor results despite spending the most in the nation – is barely on anyone’s mind.
New York’s fourth-grade and eig Read More
Four Problems with a Statewide Pied-à-Terre Tax
Soon after Governor Hochul floated the idea of a "pied-à-terre" tax in New York City, Albany Sen. Patricia Fahy proposed to expand the concept to the rest of the state.
As with H Read More
New York’s Unhealthy Dependence on Low-Wage Health Care Jobs
Two recently published charts tell an eye-opening story about New York City's economy:
The , found in a , showed that the city's health care and social assistance workforce is growi Read More
Inflation Trends in the New York Metropolitan Area
Federal data show that prices in the New York metropolitan area are not only high, but rising faster than the national average.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for the New York–Newark–Jersey City area ro Read More
Albany Should Listen to Jamie Dimon
In his annual message to shareholders, JP Morgan Chase's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, offered a timely and pointed warning for New York policymakers.
It's worth , with emphasis add Read More
Albany Wavers on Shutting Down a Medicaid Racket
As Washington threatens to crack down on fraud and abuse in New York's Medicaid program, state legislators are doing their best to demonstrate why federal intervention is needed.
A Read More
Getting to the Bottom of the 340B Drug Discount Boondoggle
Some of New York's largest and most prosperous hospitals are reporting rapidly growing amounts of revenue from pharmacy sales – most of it apparently flowing from a controversial drug discount program known as 340B. Read More
New York Still Hasn’t Learned from its Covid Mistakes
Today marks the sixth anniversary of a fateful moment in New York's coronavirus pandemic: the Cuomo administration's order sending Covid-infected patients into nursing homes.
Of the Read More