Overall unemployment rate moved up to 9.6% with the biggest shift in Transportation & Utilities, which lost 61,000 roles, based on the most recently available information published in March 2021.

Total employment in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA market declined by 98,372 jobs in January and the unemployment rate increased compared to the prior month by 120 bps to 9.6%. The national unemployment rate increased by 31 bps over the same time to 6.8%.

  • New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA unemployment rate is 279 bps above the national rate which is a negative sign.
  • Unemployment in the market is 570 bps above the unemployment rate in the market last year at this time, which is a negative.
  • Average wages (per hour) grew in January versus prior month by 5.8% and are up compared to last year at this time in the market.
Month over Month Unemployment Change
Year over Year Unemployment Change
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Unemployment January 2021

For key employment segments of the market, total jobs declined by -2.5%. Key sectors include:

  • Education & Healthcare: 1,919,900; -36,600
  • Transportation & Utilities: 1,551,300; -61,000
  • Business Services: 1,435,000; -34,900
  • Government: 1,272,900; -28,700
  • Financial Services: 755,700; -5,300
  • Restaurants & Hotels: 529,700; -29,500
  • Construction, Mining: 360,000; -21,000
  • Other Jobs: 341,600; -2,600
  • Manufacturing: 325,200; -5,100
  • IT & Development: 281,300; -4,400
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Unemployment by Industry January 2021

Data is based on the most recent 12 months available, through January 2021 (Data published March 2021 and reports created on March 25, 2021).  Source: Government data agency and locally acquired statistics.

Note: All reported data is not seasonally adjusted.