Photo Courtesy of Comptroller DiNapoli’s Office
“Employment is at a record level and more jobs are being created in the boroughs outside of Manhattan than ever before,” Comptroller DiNapoli said.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Job growth in the five boroughs has outpaced the state and the nation since the end of the recession, according to a report released on Thursday by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
“New York City Employment Trends” indicated that the city added a total of 702,200 jobs between 2009 and 2017, more than during any other expansion.
And, according to the eight-page analysis, communities such as Howard Beach/South Ozone Park have especially thrived over the past eight years, contributing a hefty share to the NYC’s gaudy employment figures. The two proud south Queens neighborhoods are two of just 10 city enclaves—and the only from the World’s Borough—that boasted job growth that exceeded 40 percent between 2009 and 2017. Employment in HB/SOP grew by 41 percent (4,100) in that period; more than half (55 percent) of the jobs added were in the leisure and hospitality sectors.
The other 40+ communities included: Bedford-Stuyvesant; Borough Park; Flatbush; Sheepshead Bay/Gravesend; Central Harlem; Bensonhurst; Coney Island; Williamsburg/Greenpoint; and Bay Ridge. No neighborhood in the city lost jobs between 2009 and 2017.
Overall, Queens came in second (24 percent) out of the five boroughs regarding the rate of job growth since 2009; Brooklyn, at 38 percent, earned top honors.
“New York City is undergoing the largest and longest expansion since World War II,” DiNapoli said. “Employment is at a record level and more jobs are being created in the boroughs outside of Manhattan than ever before.”
Since the end of the recession, employment in the Big Apple increased by 18.9 percent, pushing employment to an “unprecedented” level of 4.4 million in 2017, DiNapoli said, breaking the pre-recession record by more than 600,000 jobs. The state and the nation had job gains of 11.5 percent during this same period.
The comptroller also noted that the unemployment rate in the city dropped to 4 percent in March 2017, the lowest level since the current data series was introduced 41 years ago. Since March, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.3 percent in December 2017 as more people entered the work force, encouraged by the strong economy, DiNapoli explained.
“New York City Employment Trends” also found:
• The business services sector was the largest source of new jobs during the expansion, adding 174,400 jobs from 2009 to 2017.
• Health care is the only sector in NYC that has experienced gains every year since 1990 (when the current data series was established). It added 21,400 jobs in 2017, bringing total employment to 519,000, 28 percent more than in 2009.
• The leisure and hospitality sector accounted for one-fifth of the gains between 2009 and 2017 (139,400 jobs). More than three-quarters of the gains were in bars and restaurants.
• While the securities industry added 9,700 jobs since 2009, it is still 5 percent smaller than before the financial crisis.
• The retail sector lost jobs in each of the past two years as brick and mortar stores face increased competition from online retailers. Despite losses in the past two years, the retail sector still accounted for 8 percent of the gains since 2009.
