Some Good, Some Not, in New York Jobs Numbers
October 19 2017 - 7:24PM
Dow Jones News
By Melanie Grayce West
New York City's private-sector employment is still up in the
past year, though there's been a recent slump in the growth
rate.
New York City's private-sector employment is up 1.3% from
September of last year, with 48,100 jobs added, according to the
New York State Dept. of Labor. Statewide, more than 84,000 jobs
have been added over the last year, labor analysts said.
The sectors of leisure/hospitality and education/health services
are both up by at least 4% over the year.
The overall growth during the past year comes despite the
slight, steady losses in the city's month-to-month private-sector
jobs since the beginning of the summer. In June, there were
3,894,700 jobs, compared with 3,844,200 in September. Figures
aren't seasonally adjusted.
Overall, data from the state shows the biggest drops in the past
year were in trade, transportation and utilities, and wholesale
trade.
There was also a slight drop in the number of manufacturing jobs
in the past year. To stem steady losses in that sector, the city is
investing hundreds of millions with hopes to create some 20,000
industrial and manufacturing jobs.
A centerpiece of that plan, a new advanced manufacturing center
at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, was previewed Thursday. Called
TechShop, the center will provide manufacturing equipment like 3-D
printers, laser cutters and a machine shop. The city estimates the
center will create 500 jobs within five years.
On Long Island, the private sector added 8,500 jobs in the past
year, according to Shital Patel, a labor-market analyst with the
state Labor Department. However, between August and September,
8,300 private sector jobs were lost, compared with an average loss
of 2,900. The additional losses are partly related to a
stronger-than-normal hiring season in the hospitality and leisure
sector, Ms. Patel said.
Statewide, the unemployment rate increased from 4.8% in August
to 4.9% in September. In New York City, the unemployment rate rose
from 4.9% to 5.1%.
Write to Melanie Grayce West at melanie.west@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2017 19:09 ET (23:09 GMT)
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