"This is the first positive quarter of job growth in the last six quarters," Thompson noted. "I am particularly encouraged by the partial recovery in the trade and services sectors."

"However, I am troubled by the significant losses in construction, 1,300 jobs alone in the second quarter. Of greatest concern is the unemployment rate, which remains at a high of eight percent," Thompson added.

Private-sector jobs located in New York City, seasonally adjusted, grew slightly by 1,500 from May to June. Because of a decline in 2,800 government jobs, the total number of jobs fell by 1,800 in June despite the private-sector job increase. Since December 2000, the City has lost 131,400 jobs, of which a net of 83,800 - or 64 percent - have been lost since September 2001.

"The City and State budget gaps will continue to affect the outlook for government jobs," Thompson said. "In the near future, to increase jobs we will have to rely on the private-sector."

Unemployment, also seasonally adjusted, remained at 8 percent in June. May and June were the two highest monthly rates since May 1998. The seasonal adjustments to payroll jobs were made by the New York City Comptroller's Office based on unadjusted preliminary June numbers from the New York State Department of Labor, which also released revised figures for May 2002.

Monthly Year-over-Year Changes

Year-over-year comparisons of monthly job losses since September 2001 show that the decline in New York City jobs has been more than twice as great percentage-wise than it is in the nation, as shown in Chart A. The number of jobs located in New York City in June was down 2.6 percent from June 2001. Nationally, jobs in June declined by only 1.1 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Civilian Employment (Household Survey)

Seasonally adjusted civilian employment, the number of City residents with jobs, rose by 12,600 in June after a rise of 10,500 in May. The month-to-month rise in June employment was accompanied by a smaller increase in the labor force of 11,600, following a 22,400-person rise in May and a 27,300-person rise in April. Therefore, the number of unemployed persons dropped by 1,100 in June. This kept the June unemployment rate unchanged from May at 8.0 percent, up from 7.7 percent in April. The City's 8 percent rate of unemployment is its highest rate since May 1998.

Industry-by-Industry Job Numbers

The City's overall loss of 1,800 jobs in June is the net of an increase of 1,500 private-sector jobs and a loss of 3,300 government jobs, of which 2,800 were local government jobs (which includes both City jobs and jobs in independent local agencies such as the MTA). Government jobs fell by 100 in the Federal sector, the sixth consecutive month of declines, and by 500 in jobs with the State of New York and its related agencies.

The 1,500-jobs increase in private-sector jobs reflects a growth of 500 jobs in construction, 400 in transportation and public utilities, 1,300 jobs in trade, and 3,200 jobs in services (300 in eating and drinking establishments, 300 in social services, 600 in motion pictures and amusements, 300 in legal services and 600 jobs in engineering and management consulting offset by 400 in health services and 800 in business services). These increases were offset by a loss of 1,800 jobs in manufacturing and a loss of 2,000 jobs in the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector (made up of 300 more jobs in real estate and 800 more in banking, offset by a decline of 3,100 jobs in securities).

Quarterly Job Figures

Quarterly data show more enduring trends because they smooth out unusual one-month events. Based on seasonally adjusted data, New York City has enjoyed the first quarter of job growth in the last six, rising by 7,900 jobs in the second quarter, with a rise of 8,300 private jobs. Prior to the current jobs recession, the previous quarterly jobs decline was in the fourth quarter of 1992.

Government jobs fell by 400 in the second quarter. This was accounted for by loss of 2,100 Federal jobs, 300 State jobs and a growth of 1,900 jobs in local government (City and independent agencies such as the MTA).

The quarterly declines in manufacturing, however, continue unbroken since the fourth quarter of 1997. Construction suffered its fifth consecutive job loss, falling by 1,300 jobs in the second quarter. As with the City as a whole, the transportation and utilities sector enjoyed its first positive quarter in the last six. Trade added 5,200 jobs in the quarter (evenly divided between wholesale and retail), but is still 11,400 jobs down from the average of the third quarter of 2001. The FIRE sector as a whole grew by 1,200 jobs, with gains of 300 jobs in banking, 200 in insurance and 800 in securities, offset by a loss of 100 jobs in real estate.

Services as a whole grew by 4,000 jobs in the second quarter, much of it accounted for by a recovery in eating and drinking places (up 1,600 following another increase of 1,900 in the first quarter after an 8,300-job loss in the fourth quarter of 2001) and another 1,300 increase in health services. Social services in the second quarter were up by 300 and motion pictures and amusements were up by 200. But business services were down by 1,300, legal services by 300, and engineering and management consulting by 900.

Borough Unemployment

For the second quarter of 2002, the highest borough unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in the Bronx, up from 6.5 percent in the second quarter of 2001. The second-highest unemployment rate was Brooklyn's at 8.3 percent, up from 5.9 percent in the second quarter of 2001. In the middle was Manhattan, with a second-quarter unemployment rate of 7.5 percent, up from 5.1 percent in the second quarter of 2001. Queens had a second-quarter unemployment rate of 6.4 percent, up from 4.4 percent in the same quarter of 2001. Staten Island had the lowest unemployment rate in the second quarter, 6.2 percent, but it was up from 4.2 percent in second quarter of 2001.

Borough unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted and are based on a relatively small sample of households in each borough. Quarterly data are more reliable than monthly data because they have three times as many sampling points as the monthly survey data. (Payroll jobs for June are not yet available by borough.)

The June numbers, again based on place of residence rather than place of work and not seasonally adjusted, show that unemployment was highest in the Bronx, at 9.2 percent, followed by Brooklyn, at 8.2 percent. Manhattan's unemployment rate was 7.6 percent and the lowest unemployment was in Staten Island (6.5 percent) and Queens (6.3 percent).

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