The most recent upturn in New York City payroll employment began in April 2010. Until October 2010, over-the-year job growth was relatively modest, remaining below 1.5 percent. From October 2010 until August 2013, the over-the-year change in employment ranged from a high of 2.9 percent to a low of 1.5 percent. Over that period, the unemployment rate averaged 9.0 percent. This period of strong job growth with persistent high unemployment was not unprecedented, as strong job growth and high unemployment were also experienced from December 1996 to May 1998. Over that period, the unemployment rate averaged 9.1 percent.
From August 2010 to August 2013, the employment-population ratio for New York City fluctuated in a narrow range (around 54.3 percent), slightly above its low for the most recent recession. Over this period, the labor force participation rate remained within 0.5 percentage point of 59.6 percent, considered to be relatively high for New York City. The persistence of high unemployment during that timespan reflects the persistence of the near-recessionary level of the employment-population ratio combined with a relatively high unemployment rate.
These data come from the Current Employment Statistics (State and Metropolitan Area) and Local Area Unemployment Statistics programs. The employment-population ratio is the proportion of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years of age and over with a job. For more information, see the Beyond the Numbers article, "Persistence of a high unemployment rate in New York City during the recent recovery," by Martin Kohli, February 2014.
United States Department of Labor
