PRIVATE JOBS GROW BY 4,800; UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS TO 7.5% FROM 7.9%

"The City has gained jobs in April, but our job creation continues to lag the nation’s,” said Comptroller Thompson. "Whether measured on an annual basis or a monthly basis, we are behind the nation in creating jobs.”

The City’s gain of 3,800 jobs in April is a 0.4 percent increase on a year-over-year basis, compared with a 0.9 percent increase for the nation. It is a 1.3 percent annualized increase compared with March, seasonally adjusted, compared with a 2.7 percent increase for the nation.

The unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent in April from 7.9 percent in March. The number of unemployed New Yorkers fell by 16,300 in April, seasonally adjusted.

But the number of employed New Yorkers also fell, by 1,900, after having risen by 25,800 in March. An explanation is that the labor force participation rate fell to 57.2 percent in April, a decline from 57.6 percent in March, indicating that fewer New Yorkers are looking for work.

The number of employed New York City residents fell to 3,388,000 in April, seasonally adjusted, as the number of unemployed New Yorkers fell to 272,800, seasonally adjusted. The total number of employed New Yorkers has fallen by 55,700 since the recent peak in June 2002. The City's unemployment rate in April remains 1.9 percentage points above the nation's.  

The City’s Lag Behind the Nation in Job Creation

 The gap between the year-over-year percentage loss of jobs in New York City jobs and the year-over-year percentage change in jobs in the nation was narrowing between December and February but rose again in March and April, to .53 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 narrowed at the turn of the year, as may be seen in Chart 1.

Chart 1. New York City Continues to Lag the U.S. in Year-over-Year Monthly Percent Changes in Jobs, January 2000 to April 2004, U.S. and NYC

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.)

Since December 2000, New York City has lost 214,300 jobs, seasonally adjusted, of which 134,400 (or nearly 63 percent) have been lost since September 2001.

Seasonally Adjusted Jobs Rose by 3,800 in April

Total jobs located in New York City, seasonally adjusted, rose by 3,800 in April compared with March. The private sector gained 4,800 and the government sector lost 1,000 jobs. Local government jobs (i.e., jobs in City government and in independent local agencies like the MTA) fell by 1,100, State jobs fell by 100 and Federal jobs rose by 100.

Two private sectors also lost jobs – construction, which fell by 400, and manufacturing, which fell by 700. Of the growth areas, the strongest was professional and business services, which grew by 2,400 jobs, an annualized rate of increase of 5.4 percent, and information, which grew by 1,700 jobs, an annualized rate of 13.4 percent. Trade, transportation and utilities grew by 800 jobs and other services grew by 600 jobs. Changes in other sectors were fewer than 300 jobs. These numbers may be seen in Chart 2, which combines several related NAICS categories to simplify the analysis.

Chart 2. Change in New York City Jobs by NAICS Category,

April 2004 Compared with March 2004, Seasonally Adjusted

Data Source: New York State Department of Labor and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, revised series based on NAICS job categories.

City Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.5% in April

The City’s unemployment rate in April, seasonally adjusted, fell to 7.5 percent, from 7.9 percent in March. The number of unemployed New Yorkers, seasonally adjusted, fell by 16,300 in April, after having fallen by 3,500 in March. The number of employed New Yorkers in April fell by 1,900, seasonally adjusted, after having risen by 25,800 in March.

The City’s labor-force-participation rate (a measure of the number of New Yorkers working relative to the adult population) was 57.2 percent in April, a decline from 57.6 percent in March. The City’s labor-force-participation rate is 8.7 percentage points below the national average of 65.9 percent.

April Unemployment Rates by Borough

Within New York City, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the April unemployment rate of City residents was lowest in Queens, at 6.1 percent. It was highest in the Bronx at 9.3 percent. The second-highest unemployment rate was in Brooklyn at 8.1 percent, followed by 6.5 percent in Manhattan and 6.3 percent in Staten Island.

On a positive note, the year-over-year change in unemployment of City residents in April fell in all five boroughs — by 1.4 percentage points in Manhattan, by 0.9 percentage points in Brooklyn, by 0.7 of a percentage point in Queens, and by 0.6 of a percentage point in Staten Island and Brooklyn.

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¹The 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.