New York City's unemployment rate fell in August to its lowest level since September 2001, 6.7 percent, partly because tourism has recovered, a state labor market analyst said Thursday.
The World Trade Center attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people also led New York employers to cut thousands of jobs, not just at banks and brokerages, but at hotels and restaurants as tourists stayed home.
But for the last 12 months, the leisure and hospitality industry has added the most jobs of any sector, said James Brown, a labor market analyst at the New York State Department of Labor.
August's data does not include any kick this sector might have gotten from the Republican presidential convention, which was held at the end of that month. Unless those temporary jobs turn into permanent ones, they will not be reflected in the next month's data, as it is collected at mid-month.
The city's unemployment rate fell eight-tenths of a percentage point from July. This key gauge of the city's economy, which was seasonally adjusted, was also down sharply from the August 2003 rate of 8.4 percent.
"What's most impressive to me is that the unemployment rate has been below its year-ago level for 10 months now," Brown said.
The leisure and hospitality industry has added 14,900 jobs since last August, a 5.9 percent increase for the sector, according to Brown. The next fastest growing industry was professional and business services, which hired 14,600 workers, for a 2.7 percent rise.
New York City's fortunes are closely tied to Wall Street, which has rebounded.
Big profits at banks and brokerages not only boost their hiring but also push other companies, particularly business service companies, into adding workers. Highly paid Wall Streeters also tend to eat out at costly restaurants, increasing hiring in that and other entertainment sectors.
However, banks, brokerages, securities companies, funds, trusts and the like employed just 260,700 people this August, according to Jeff Weissenstein, another state labor market analyst.
That was 4,400 fewer people than those companies employed a year ago. The latest total for this industry, known for big swings in hiring and cutting jobs, has 43,700 fewer workers than in August 2001.
This suggests the finance sector either has not fully recovered from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks or has sent more jobs out of the city to protect their operations from the risk of another catastrophic attack.
New York State's jobless rate eased three-tenths of a percentage point to 5.6 percent. That was eight-tenths of a percentage point below the year-ago level.
