ALBANY, NY — After losing more than 1.9 million jobs in March and April, New York State saw steady gains, averaging over 174,000 jobs in each of the following five months. That progress nearly halted in October, when statewide employment rose by less than 11,000. That brought the State’s job total to nearly 8.8 million, a cumulative increase of 881,000 since April—but, still, nearly 1.1 million below pre-pandemic levels in February.
From a regional perspective, New York City lost approximately 938,000 jobs in March and April, almost half the statewide total. As a percentage of February employment, however, the downstate suburban region took a sharper hit, experiencing a decline of more than 21 percent compared to 20 percent in the City and 18.1 percent in the rest of New York State. As of October, the downstate suburbs had recovered at a faster rate than the other two regions, recouping over 58 percent of lost jobs, as shown in the nearby chart. New York City saw only slight job gains in the month of October, while the rest of the State lost more than 14,000 jobs.
Of the State’s nearly 1.1 million net jobs lost from February through October, over 344,000 or almost one-third were in the leisure and hospitality sector. This includes jobs in the arts and recreation, such as theaters, spectator sports and museums, as well as those in restaurants and hotels. The health care and social assistance industry, the State’s largest employment sector, accounted for over 10 percent of job losses. Many jobs in these industries are relatively low-paid compared to other sectors, as the Office of the State Comptroller has noted previously. Meanwhile, professional services, with many higher-paid jobs, ranked second for net job loss, with a decline in excess of 155,000 over the period. The chart below illustrates the distribution of the State’s job losses across major sectors.