In August of this year, the number of private sector jobs in New York grew by 27,600, or 0.3%.
Nationwide, private sector jobs grew by 0.2% in the same timeframe, meaning New York outpaced the country as a whole.
NYS job growth exceeds the nation’s for August
Since August 2021, the state’s private sector jobs have increased by over 400,000, or 5.4%, according to the latest data released by the New York State Department of Labor (DOL).
That number exceeded the 4.4% increase in private sector jobs across the U.S. from August of last year to August 2022.
Related: State Labor Department releases preliminary July 2022 area unemployment rates
New York’s unemployment increased since July but decreased year-over-year
New York’s unemployment rate increased from 4.3% in July 2022 to 4.7% in August 2022.
The national unemployment rate also increased, rising to 3.7%.
However, from August 2021 to August 2022, the state’s unemployment rate fell significantly from 6.7% to 4.9%.
The graph below shows New York’s unemployment rate from August 2021 compared to July 2022 and August 2022:
Labor force participation at its highest rate since March 2020
From July to August 2022, New York’s labor force increased by 32,500.
The labor force participation rate went up from 60.3% in July to 60.5% in August 2022.
DOL says that’s the highest rate since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit New York.
Related: Overtime threshold reduction moves ahead for farmworkers in New York
Ithaca leads upstate NY in private sector job growth
New York’s net total number of nonfarm jobs increased by 25,600 over the month.
Private sector jobs rose by 27,600 in August 2022.
At the same time, the total number of nonfarm jobs in the U.S. increased by 315,000, while private sector jobs increased by 308,000.
The graph below shows the change in New York’s total nonfarm and private sector jobs from August 2021 to August 2022:
Outside of New York City, the sub-state area with the greatest year-over-year job growth was Ithaca with a 5.4% increase, or 2,700 net total private sector jobs created.
The biggest year-over-year nonfarm job growth outside of NYC was again Ithaca at 5.0%, or 2,900 net total nonfarm jobs created.
DOL notes the sum of sub-state area job estimates typically differ from the state total due to the latter being calculated separately and estimated based on an independent sample.
State job growth by industry
The Leisure & Hospital industry grew the most out of New York’s major industries from August 2021 to August 2022 at 11.7%.
Information and Professional & Business Services grew by 8.1% and 7.8%, respectively.
The chart below shows the change in NY’s job numbers by major industry from August 2021 to August 2022:
You can view the DOL’s full August jobs data report here.
NYS DOL publishes jobs and labor force data in two separate press releases each month.
The first release each month includes jobs data by industry and region as well as labor force data statewide and by region. The second release includes labor force data, including unemployment rates, for regions, metro areas, counties and municipalities of at least 25,000 people.
