Private Sector Jobs Surge in May in New York

In May 2015, New York State’s private sector job count grew by 0.6 percent, to 7,783,800, a record high, according to preliminary figures released yesterday by the New York State Department of Labor.

The Orange-Rockland-Westchester county area grew even faster, by 0.9 percent, adding 5,000 jobs in May.

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This was the state’s largest monthly private sector job gain since September 2000. The state’s economy has added 673,500 private sector jobs and experienced employment growth in 46 of the past 53 months.

“New York State’s economy added 47,400 private sector jobs in May 2015. This represented the state’s largest monthly private sector job gain in 15 years,” said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics. “In addition, the state’s unemployment rate remained at its lowest level since mid-2008.”

The statewide unemployment rate in New York was unchanged at 5.7 percent in May 2015.

The state’s private sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York employers conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Monthly payroll employment estimates are preliminary and subject to revision as more data becomes available the following month. The federal government calculates New York’s unemployment rate partly based upon the results of the Current Population Survey, which contacts approximately 3,100 households in New York State each month.

Note: Seasonally adjusted data are used to provide the most valid month-to-month comparison. Non-seasonally adjusted data are valuable in year-to-year comparisons of the same month; for example, May 2014 versus May 2015.