Every week, Cassidy Turley research guru Robert Sammons provides us with a statistical snapshot of an aspect of the New York City commercial real estate market. This week, jobs, jobs, jobs.
Office employment for New York City was up by a revised 24,600 positions for 2010, from the original estimate of 21,500, in figures released this month by the city comptroller. With a total of 38,500 private-sector jobs added in 2010, 64 percent were in the office-using sector, dramatically higher than the previous full post-recession recovery years of 1993 (40 percent) and 2004 (33 percent) in the city.
Further good news: For the latest reporting month of January 2011, another 5,400 desk jobs were added. There are now a total of 1,181,000 office-using positions in the city, up from the recent recession low of 1,150,600 in November 2009, though still well off the 1,298,400 recorded in January 2001.
There was job creation across a wide variety of fields, including business services and finance, though still somewhat depressed in the real estate and information sectors. The securities industry, which is crucial to the New York economy, made the most dramatic turnaround within the revised numbers, jumping by 6,200 positions in 2010, up from the original estimate of 100 losses.
Additionally, another 2,000 jobs were added in January. With this trend expected to continue (albeit at a measured pace), watch for higher rents for office space as the vacancy rate shrinks and plans for new commercial buildings in Manhattan are announced.
