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Private-sector jobs located in New York City, seasonally adjusted,
were down by 13,200 jobs in December, for a three-month record drop
of 105,100 NYC jobs, Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. announced
today. The largest previous three-month drop in private-sector jobs
was 80,200, which occurred during the last two months of 1990 and
the first month of 1991. Total jobs fell by 13,500, for a three-month
loss of 109,700 jobs since September. Unemployment rose from 6.9
percent in November to 7.4 percent in December, the highest since
January of 1999. The seasonal adjustments were made by the NYC Comptroller's
Office based on unadjusted preliminary numbers from the NY State
Department of Labor. The final three months of 2001 reflect losses
since the September 11 attack.
"The continuing loss of jobs in December follows two precipitous
drops in October and November," said Comptroller Thompson,
who noted that the December job loss in the City was three times
worse than it was for the rest of the nation. "The numbers
underscore the urgency of the City's need for State and Federal
government assistance to help the recovery effort."
Civilian employment, the number of NYC residents with jobs, fell
by 13,800 jobs in December, and added to a three-month decline of
52,600 jobs since September. The number of New Yorkers with jobs
dropped nearly twice as fast in the last three months of 2001 compared
with September as in the previous three months compared with June.
Since the mid-1990s NYC had a virtually unbroken string of positive
quarterly numbers for civilian employment until the third quarter
of 2000.
The decline in employment corresponds to a three-month rise in
the number of unemployed of 34,300 since September and a rise in
the unemployment rate in December to 7.4 percent, from 6.9 percent
in November. The 7.4 percent
unemployment rate is the highest since January 1999. Unemployment
was at a low of 5.0 percent in July 2001.
The increase in unemployment results in part from a rise in the
City's labor force of 23,800 in November and 1,000 in December.
The numbers reflect a net figure of workers who may be temporarily
displaced out of NYC (e.g., because of damage to the WTC complex)
and workers who may be temporarily placed in NYC (e.g., for work
related to the WTC site).
Year-over-Year Job Changes for 2001
The year-over-year growth in jobs for 2001 was 19,700. However,
the growth was less than one-fifth the 99,800 new jobs that were
created in NYC in 2000. It was the slowest rate of growth in jobs
since 1995, when NYC created 17,000 new jobs. It was also the ninth
consecutive year of positive job growth in NYC.
Looking at the private-sector growth only, NYC created 23,500 jobs,
the slowest rate of growth since 1993. For the year 2001, construction
was up by 5,900 jobs, manufacturing was down by 12,800, transportation
and utilities up by 400, trade up by 3,500 (wholesale down 3,300,
retail up 6,800), and the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE)
sector down by 7,300. Within the FIRE sector, real estate is up
2,100, banking is down 5,300, insurance is down 500, and the securities
sector is down 3,700. Services overall are up 33,800. Within services,
business services were up by 800 for the year, health care up by
2,700, motion pictures and amusements up by 2,600, engineering and
management consulting up 3,500, legal up 2,600, and government down
3,800 (federal down 5,400, state up 200, local up 1,400).
FIRE Sector Sheds 29,800 Jobs since September
Within the private sector, a major loss since September was in
the well-paid finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE) sector,
which saw a December loss of 3,200 jobs for a three-month drop of
29,800 jobs, of which the majority, 15,700 jobs, were in the securities
industry. Banking also saw a steady loss of jobs over the three
months, declining by 700 in December for a cumulative three-month
loss since September of 9,300 jobs. Real estate lost 700 jobs in
December and
1700 over three months. The insurance industry lost 3,100 jobs in
the three months since September.
The services sector overall lost 7,100 jobs in December, for a
cumulative loss for the three months of 35,900. Within the services
sector, the three-month cumulative decline in business services
from September was a loss of 14,800 jobs; December was the eighth
month in a row of job declines in this industry, which includes
the "dot-coms" that contributed heavily to job growth
in the second half of the 1990s. Motion pictures and amusements
also lost heavily, a three-month decline since September of 10,600
jobs. Legal industry jobs showed slight increases in November and
December, but was down for three months by 1,100 jobs. Engineering
and management consulting fell by 3,200 since September.
Eating and drinking places recovered slightly in November (up 2,500
jobs) and December (up 1,800 jobs) from their serious 12,400-job
loss in October. Social services declined slightly each of the three
months, while health services increased slightly (all monthly changes
were 500 or fewer jobs). The trade sector, which was hit by a loss
of 18,500 jobs (of which 16,100 were retail jobs) in October, recovered
1,200 jobs in November but then lost 1,500 jobs in December.
Manufacturing actually gained 600 jobs in December, but this was
only a small offset to a loss of 6,900 jobs in October and November.
Despite activity at the World Trade Center site, construction jobs
declined in December by 800 jobs. With the destruction of transportation
centers below the World Trade Center, transportation and utilities
jobs fell by 1,200 in December for a cumulative three-month loss
since September of 13,800 jobs.
On a cumulative three-month basis, governments lost 4,600 jobs,
with local governments losing 4,100 of them.
Monthly Year-over-Year Changes 2000-2001
Year-over-year comparisons of job losses show that the decline
in NYC jobs has been more than three times as great percentage-wise
as in the nation. (See Chart A.) In December the loss for NYC was
2.5 percent, whereas for the nation it was 0.8 percent, i.e., three
times greater for NYC than for the nation. In November, the loss
for NYC was 2.2 percent, whereas for the nation was 0.7
percent. In October, the loss for NYC was 1.6 percent, whereas
it was 0.3 percent for the nation, i.e., five times as great for
NYC as for the nation
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