WTC, national recession
affect New York's 2002 job growth

After an unparalleled three-year period of peacetime growth of 2.2 percent or higher in New York State, private sector job growth declined in 2001 due to lingering effects of the World Trade Center attacks and the national recession. After year-end revisions, New York's private sector job count averaged 7,160,100 in 2001, down 7,500 or -0.1 percent from 2000 and the first decrease since 1992, when private sector jobs fell -2.2 percent. In comparison, the nation's private sector job count inched up 0.2 percent from 2000 to 2001. "Had New York not been the target of terror, 2001 would have been a year of moderate job growth," said Thomas A. Rodick, director of the Division of Research and Statistics. Job data for the previous 18 months are revised at the end of each year, as more complete information becomes available from employers' unemployment insurance tax records.

In addition, the total number of nonfarm jobs in New York State, including government, was virtually unchanged, falling by 2,700 from 2000 to 2001 after revision. Upstate nonfarm job growth kept pace with the nation's rate of 0.3 percent. The job count decreased in manufacturing, wholesale trade, and finance, insurance and real estate. The job count increased at the fastest rate in construction, services, and transportation and public utilities.

In Rochester since January 2001, the number of jobs has decreased by 12,400 or -2.3 percent and the number of private sector jobs has decreased by 12,000 or -2.6 percent. The area's unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in January 2002, compared with 5.3 in December and 4.5 in January 2001.