"It is encouraging that we have this trend of four consecutive months without a seasonally adjusted private-sector job loss," Thompson said. "The preliminary July numbers show growth in the areas of retail trade, health services and engineering. On the downside, business services are still showing job losses."

The unemployment rate is down from its eight percent high in May and June. However, after seasonal adjustment, 8,400 fewer New York residents were working in July compared with June. The drop in the unemployment rate could therefore mean that unemployed job seekers have been discouraged from looking for work.

"We need to look beyond the small decline in the City's unemployment rate to note that the preliminary survey data indicate that in the Bronx 9.6 percent of residents, 46,800 people, are still looking for work, and that in Brooklyn, 8.7 percent of residents, 87,600 people, are still looking for work," Thompson said. "I remain concerned about the high levels of unemployment in many of our neighborhoods."

Civilian Employment (Residents with Jobs, Based on Household Survey)

The New York City unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted by the New York State Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, fell to 7.7 percent in July from eight percent in June. The May and June eight percent unemployment rates were the two highest monthly rates since May 1998.

Seasonally adjusted civilian employment, the number of City residents with jobs, fell by 8,400 in July after a rise of 11,800 in June. The month-to-month fall in July employment was accompanied by a large decline of 8,900 in the number of unemployed persons, the largest one-month decline since March 1999. While the civilian employment surveys are based on a small sample of households, so that the month-to-month changes are volatile, they indicate that fewer people in the City are looking for work.

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 continues to be 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 July was down 2.3 percent from July 2001. Nationally, jobs in July declined by only one percent on a year-over-year basis.

Chart A. Monthly Payroll-Jobs Growth, NYC and the U.S., Year-over-Year, Percent Change, Jan. 00-July 02

Data Source: NYS and U.S. Departments of Labor. July 2002 data are preliminary; June 2002 data are revised.

New York City Payroll Jobs and Industry-by-Industry Job Numbers

Total jobs rose by 1,900 in July. Private-sector jobs located in New York City, seasonally adjusted, grew by 1,200 from June to July. Government employment increased by 700 jobs, mostly by the Federal government, which added 600 jobs.

Since December 2000, the City has lost 130,700 jobs, of which a net of 83,100 - or 64 percent - have been lost since September 2001.

These numbers are based on unadjusted preliminary data released by the New York State Department of Labor that are seasonally adjusted by the City Comptroller's Office. The Department of Labor also released revised numbers for June 2002.

The City's overall gain of 1,900 jobs in July is the sum of an increase of 1,200 private-sector jobs and an increase of 700 government jobs, of which 600 were Federal government jobs (after six consecutive months of Federal job declines). Local government jobs (which include jobs both in City agencies and in independent local agencies such as the MTA) rose by 300 while State jobs fell by 300.¹

The 1,200-job increase in the private sector reflects a growth of 300 jobs in transportation and public utilities, 2,700 jobs in retail trade, 500 jobs in the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector, of which 300 jobs came from the real estate sector, 1,000 from banking, and 200 from insurance. Although the services sector fell, many sectors within it grew, including eating and drinking establishments by 800 jobs, social services by 700, health services by 2,700 jobs, motion pictures and amusements by 400, legal services by 200 and engineering and management consulting by 1,500 jobs.

These increases were offset by declines of 100 jobs in manufacturing, 200 jobs in construction, 100 jobs in wholesale trade, 1,100 securities jobs (for a two-month cumulative loss of 5,500 jobs in a high-paying industry), and 1,800 jobs in the large services sector (more than accounted for by a loss of 4,200 jobs in the business-services sector).

Borough Employment (Borough Residents Working or Looking for Work)

Borough employment data are not seasonally adjusted and are based on a relatively small sample of households in each borough. (Payroll jobs for July are not yet available by borough.)

The July numbers, based on place of residence rather than place of work and not seasonally adjusted, show that unemployment was highest in the Bronx, at 9.6 percent, followed by Brooklyn, at 8.7 percent. Manhattan's unemployment rate was 7.6 percent and the lowest unemployment was in Staten Island (7.4 percent) and Queens (6.6 percent).

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¹ The missing 100 jobs is explained by rounding errors.