Some Good, Some Not, in New York Jobs Numbers

New York City's private-sector employment is still up in the past year, though there's been a recent slump in the growth rate.

New York City's private-sector employment is up 1.3% from September of last year, with 48,100 jobs added, according to the New York State Dept. of Labor. Statewide, more than 84,000 jobs have been added over the last year, labor analysts said.

The sectors of leisure/hospitality and education/health services are both up by at least 4% over the year.

The overall growth during the past year comes despite the slight, steady losses in the city's month-to-month private-sector jobs since the beginning of the summer. In June, there were 3,894,700 jobs, compared with 3,844,200 in September. Figures aren't seasonally adjusted.

Overall, data from the state shows the biggest drops in the past year were in trade, transportation and utilities, and wholesale trade.

There was also a slight drop in the number of manufacturing jobs in the past year. To stem steady losses in that sector, the city is investing hundreds of millions with hopes to create some 20,000 industrial and manufacturing jobs.

A centerpiece of that plan, a new advanced manufacturing center at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, was previewed Thursday. Called TechShop, the center will provide manufacturing equipment like 3-D printers, laser cutters and a machine shop. The city estimates the center will create 500 jobs within five years.

On Long Island, the private sector added 8,500 jobs in the past year, according to Shital Patel, a labor-market analyst with the state Labor Department. However, between August and September, 8,300 private sector jobs were lost, compared with an average loss of 2,900. The additional losses are partly related to a stronger-than-normal hiring season in the hospitality and leisure sector, Ms. Patel said.

Statewide, the unemployment rate increased from 4.8% in August to 4.9% in September. In New York City, the unemployment rate rose from 4.9% to 5.1%.

Write to Melanie Grayce West at melanie.west@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 19, 2017 19:09 ET (23:09 GMT)