Before digging into the latest jobs numbers for New York City, let’s pause for a comment on the ongoing controversy regarding the unemployment rate in both the city and the state. Very briefly—the household survey, used to calculate the unemployment rate, is believed by a number of government officials and economists to be flawed.
This is primarily because it is a much smaller sample within a potentially inaccurate model, as opposed to the larger payroll survey derived from employers. It remains to be seen when this issue will be resolved, but for now, let’s talk more about the latest (and more reliable) payroll survey.
In numbers just released by the NYC Comptroller’s Office, private sector jobs were up by 11,300 in August. Over the past 12 months, the jobs number has increased by a mind-blowing figure of 93,700, losing positions in just three of those months, all of them in 2011. Most recently, non-office sectors led the way, especially the trade, transportation and utilities category (primarily a rebound from the Consolidated Edison dispute) and leisure and hospitality.
The office sector (whose categories include professional and business services, financial services, and information) climbed higher during August, up by 2,600 positions after declining by 3,400 in July (the only month this year that recorded a decline).
If taken alone, however, financial services has lost jobs in four out of the eight months thus far in 2012. Expect that sector to suffer further for the remainder of 2012 and into 2013 as banks continue to cull workers while implementing further regulations.
Robert Sammons, Cassidy Turley
