4.5% unemployment rate is lowest since 1976
New York City added 329,800 new jobs since Mayor de Blasio took office
New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) today announced that citywide unemployment dropped to a record low of 4.5 percent in January 2017, the lowest rate since 1976, which is the earliest available unemployment data from the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL). The unemployment rate breaks the previous record of 4.6 percent in December 2006, and is down from 5.3 percent in January 2016. Citywide unemployment is down from 8.1 percent in December 2013, representing a 3.6 percent drop since Mayor de Blasio took office.
Based on a seasonally-adjusted analysis, New York City added 39,000 private sector jobs in January 2017. New York City has added 329,800 private sector jobs since Mayor de Blasio took office.
Educational Services contributed to the majority of the job growth in January 2017, adding 12,900 jobs. Accommodation & Food Services and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services had the next largest gains with 6,100 and 3,300.
The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) releases employment data for New York City and State that it collects under a joint program with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This information is subject to adjustment as more data becomes available.
"As our economy continues to grow, we are seeing record low unemployment and new jobs in nearly every sector," said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen. "This is happening because we are making smart, targeted investments, building an accessible economy with more middle class jobs -- and the training New Yorkers need to get them."
“Our job creation strategy is about pulling more people into the middle class, and creating better opportunities for their families. While we are seeing incredible job gains and a historically low unemployment rate, we must focus our attention on job quality. We are going to continue to make targeted investments across the five boroughs to pull in more New Yorkers and create 100,000 quality jobs over the next decade,” said NYCEDC President and CEO James Patchett.
Mayor de Blasio has continued to focus on creating quality jobs in high-growth industries across the five boroughs. In his State of the City address, Mayor de Blasio committed to creating 100,000 good jobs in New York City over the next ten years, with 40,000 new jobs within four years. Since then, the Cityunveiled a new ‘Made in New York’ Campus at Bush Terminal which create 1,500 new jobs in film, television and garment manufacturing.
In late February, Mayor de Blasio unveiled plans for a Union Square Tech Hub that will generate 600 good paying jobs and will include a digital job training facility for all New Yorkers as well as modern, flexible workspaces designed to meet the needs of early-stage startups in New York’s innovation economy.
Earlier this week, Mayor de Blasio announced the creation of 200 new jobs through the soon to be launched Citywide Ferry Service. Through six routes, the new transportation system will connect New Yorkers along the city’s hundreds of miles of waterfronts to job centers in Sunset Park, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and lower Manhattan, among others.
Based on economic analysis done by NYCEDC based on released City and State job data through June 2016, jobs and wages have gone up in every borough since the beginning of the de Blasio Administration. Specifically, the analysis found that Brooklyn saw the highest growth in private sector jobs with an increase of 12.8 percent; the Bronx saw the biggest drop in unemployment, with a decrease of 4.4 percentage points; and Manhattan saw the highest growth in average wages, with an increase of 5.9 percent.
NYCEDC
