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PRIVATE JOBS FELL; 6.7% UNEMPLOYMENT AT 3-YEAR LOW US-NYC JOB-GROWTH GAP LOWEST SINCE AUGUST 2001
New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today released his office's analysis and seasonal adjustment of August job numbers reported by the New York State Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"The City's unemployment rate fell sharply in August to a level not seen since September 2001,” said Comptroller Thompson. “The City gained 4,300 seasonally adjusted payroll jobs, but the gain can be attributed to 4,500 new local-government jobs, as the private sector lost 400 jobs.”
The City's August jobs gain is a 1.5 percent annualized month-over-month increase compared with July, seasonally adjusted. This compares with a 1.3 percent annualized increase for the nation. The gap between the rates on a year-over-year basis is the smallest since August 2001.
Unemployment among City residents in August fell to a seasonally adjusted 6.7 percent, from 7.5 percent in July. The August unemployment rate is the lowest since September 2001. Because the numbers are collected at the beginning of the month, the September 2001 unemployment rate reflects the status prior to 9/11.
The City's labor force fell by 16,300 in August, seasonally adjusted. The number of unemployed fell by 30,300 to a seasonally adjusted 248,700, as the number of employed New York City residents rose to 3,440,800 in August, seasonally adjusted. The total number of employed New Yorkers is 2,900 below the recent peak in June 2002. The City's unemployment rate of 6.7 percent in August was 1.3 percentage points above the nation's.
The City's Year-over-Year Monthly Lag behind U.S. in Job Creation Narrows
The lag of City year-over-year monthly percentage job growth behind U.S. job growth narrowed in August to .08 of a percentage point. The City has lagged the nation in job creation since March 2001, with the gap opening up significantly in September 2001. The gap between the U.S. and New York City percentage job losses in August is the narrowest since August 2001, as may be seen in Chart 1.
Chart 1. NYC and U.S. Show Positive Job Growth But NYC Still Lags U.S. in Year-over-Year Monthly Percent Changes in Jobs, January 2000 to August 2004
Data Source: Computations by the NYC Comptroller's Office based on data from New York State Department of Labor and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Y/Y = Year over Year.)
The numbers for Chart 1 are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Year-over-Year Monthly Percent Changes in Jobs,
January 2003 to August 2004, U.S. and NYC
|
NYC Y/Y Change |
US Y/Y Change |
NYC - US Difference |
January 2003 |
-0.9% |
-0.3% |
-0.59% |
February |
-1.2% |
-0.3% |
-0.85% |
March |
-1.4% |
-0.4% |
-0.98% |
April |
-1.6% |
-0.4% |
-1.22% |
May |
-1.6% |
-0.4% |
-1.26% |
June |
-1.8% |
-0.4% |
-1.31% |
July |
-1.8% |
-0.4% |
-1.47% |
August |
-1.9% |
-0.4% |
-1.49% |
September |
-1.5% |
-0.3% |
-1.14% |
October |
-1.6% |
-0.2% |
-1.39% |
November |
-1.6% |
-0.2% |
-1.40% |
December |
-1.6% |
-0.1% |
-1.51% |
January 2004 |
-0.5% |
-0.0% |
-0.47% |
February |
-0.2% |
0.1% |
-0.31% |
March |
0.0% |
0.5% |
-0.52% |
April |
0.4% |
0.9% |
-0.52% |
May |
0.4% |
1.0% |
-0.63% |
June |
0.9% |
1.1% |
-0.28% |
July |
1.1% |
1.3% |
-0.21% |
August |
1.2% |
1.3% |
-0.08% |
Source: Computations by the NYC Comptroller's Office based on data from New York State Department of Labor and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Y/Y = Year over Year.)
Jobs Rose by 4,300 as 4,500 City Net Hires Offset a Small Private Loss
Total jobs located in New York City , seasonally adjusted, rose by 4,300 in August compared with July, more than offsetting the private-sector loss of 400 jobs. Local government jobs (i.e., jobs in City government and in independent local agencies like the MTA) rose by 4,500, while State jobs rose by 200 and Federal jobs rose by 100. This is shown in Chart 2.
Within the private sector, four sectors showed seasonally adjusted job growth and four showed declines; one (trade, transportation and utilities) was unchanged. The growth areas, in order of number of new jobs, were: construction, which gained 1,700 jobs; education and health services, which gained 1,500 jobs; other services, which gained 1,500 jobs; and leisure and hospitality, which gained 600 jobs.
The private-sector areas losing jobs were professional and business services, which lost 2,400 jobs; manufacturing, which lost 1,700 jobs; information, which lost 1,200 jobs; and financial activities, which lost 500 jobs.
Chart 2. Change in New York City Jobs by NAICS Category,
August 2004 Compared with July 2004, Seasonally Adjusted, ‘000, and SAAR
Data Source: New York State Department of Labor and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, revised series based on NAICS job categories. The percent-change numbers in parentheses are annualized numbers based on month-to-month changes. SAAR = Seasonally adjusted annual rate (in parentheses).
Since December 2000, New York City has lost 201,000 jobs, seasonally adjusted, of which 121,400 jobs (or about 60 percent) have been lost since September 2001.
City Unemployment Rate Decreases to 6.7 % in August
The City's unemployment rate in August, seasonally adjusted, fell to 6.7 percent, from 7.5 percent in July. The number of unemployed New Yorkers, seasonally adjusted, fell by 30,300 in August, after having fallen by 9,700 in July. The number of employed New Yorkers in August rose by 14,000, seasonally adjusted, after having risen by 30,300 in July.
The City's labor-force-participation rate (a measure of the number of New Yorkers working relative to the adult population) was 57.3 percent in August, a decrease from 57.6 percent in July. The City's labor-force-participation rate is 8.7 percentage points below the national average of 66.0 percent.
August Unemployment Rates by Borough
Within New York City on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the August unemployment rate of City residents was lowest in Queens , at 5.4 percent. It was highest in the Bronx at 8.6 percent. The second-highest unemployment rate was in Brooklyn at 7.5 percent, followed by 6.6 percent in Staten Island and 6.3 percent in Manhattan .
On a year-over-year basis, unemployment of City residents in August, not seasonally adjusted, fell in all five boroughs—by 1.9 percentage points in Staten Island , by 1.8 percentage points in the Bronx , Brooklyn and Manhattan , and by 1.3 percentage points in Queens .
# # #
The numbers are reported according to the new North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which replaced the previous Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, as described at http://stats.bls.gov/sae/saenaics.htm.
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