Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today released his office’s analysis and seasonal adjustment of April job numbers reported by the New York State Department of Labor and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [1] 

Total payroll jobs located in the City rose 8,000 in April and private-sector payroll jobs rose 9,500, seasonally adjusted—a City job-growth rate of 2.7 percent, faster than the U.S. growth rate of 2.5 percent.

“After two weak months, it is encouraging to see job growth in the City again in April,” Thompson said. “It is especially encouraging when we are again in the unusual situation of growing jobs faster than the nation. I am pleased that the proportion of New Yorkers at work is the highest on record.”

The employment-to-population ratio measures the share of adult NYC residents who have a job. This measure rose to 55.8 percent in April from 55.6 percent in March and is at its highest level since January 1978, when records were first kept for the City. The City remains 6.8 percentage points behind the nation on this indicator.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate for City residents rose to 5.7 percent from 5.2 percent in March. However, the data suggest that this increase may have resulted from more people entering (or-reentering) the labor force to look for work than from more people losing jobs. This frequently is the case in economic upturns when unemployed workers who have been discouraged from looking for work by a slack labor market sense improved job opportunities. Indeed, the City’s labor force rose by 34.700 in April, seasonally adjusted.

In contrast, the City’s labor force decreased 35,200 in March (part of the volatility of employment data results from the reports’ being based on a small sample).

The Gap in the City’s Year-over-Year Monthly Job-Creation Rate Narrows

In April, although the City’s seasonally adjusted job growth exceeded the nation’s by a small margin, on a year-over-year basis it continued to lag the nation—but the gap narrowed to 0.64 of a percentage point (1.7 percent for the nation, 1.1 percent for the City).  The City has lagged the nation in job creation consistently since March 2001, with the gap opening up significantly in the final months of 2001, as may be seen by the negative bars 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 April 2005

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.) 

Payroll Jobs Rose by 8,000 in April

Total jobs located in New York City, seasonally adjusted, rose 8,000 in April from the number in March. The private sector gained jobs as the government shed 1,500.

Private-sector gains were in every sector. The greatest increase was in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which added 3,100 jobs, and the “other services” sector, which added 1,700 jobs. Education and health services added 1,200 jobs, information services added 1,000 and financial activities added 900. Professional and business services added 700 jobs, construction 500 and manufacturing (an unusual month in which an increase is registered) added 300 jobs. Leisure and hospitality gained 100 jobs. This is shown in Chart 2.

Governments in the City shed a net of 1,500 jobs. The Federal Government added 200 jobs in the City, the State decreased its jobs in the City by 100 and local government jobs (the City of New York and local agencies such as the MTA) fell by 1,600.

New York City now has 179,800 fewer jobs, seasonally adjusted, than in December 2000, and has 102,000 fewer jobs than in September 2001. In other words, of the job decline since December 2000, 56.7 percent of the jobs have been lost since September 2001. 

Chart 2. Change in NYC Jobs by NAICS Category, April 2005 vs.

March 2005, 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).   

NYC’s Unemployment Rate Rose to 5.7 Percent in April

The City’s unemployment rate in April, seasonally adjusted, increased to 5.7 percent from 5.2 percent in March. The number of unemployed New Yorkers, seasonally adjusted, rose 18,600 in April, after having decreased 36,900 in March. The number of employed New Yorkers in April increased 16,100, seasonally adjusted, after having risen 1,700 in March.

The City’s labor-force-participation rate (a measure of the number of New Yorkers working or looking for work relative to the adult population) rose to 59.2 percent in April from 58.6 percent in March. The City’s labor-force-participation rate is 6.8 percentage points below the national average of 66.0 percent.

April Unemployment Rates by Borough

Within NYC on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the April unemployment rate of City residents was lowest in Manhattan at 4.7 percent.

It was highest in the Bronx at 7.0 percent. The second-highest unemployment rate was in Brooklyn at 5.8 percent followed by 5.0 percent in Queens and 4.8 percent in Staten Island.

On a year-over-year basis, unemployment of City residents fell in all boroughs—by 2.2 percentage points in the Bronx, by 2.0 percentage points in Brooklyn, by 1.5 percentage points in Manhattan and Staten Island, and by 1.4 percentage points in Queens.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has in recent years re-benchmarked its numbers every year starting with the March data, revising prior months’ data at the same time.  The BLS has announced that in future it will be re-benchmarking on a continuing monthly basis.    

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[1] The numbers are reported according to the 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.  The April 2005 data are part of a re-benchmarked series issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, superseding previous labor data.