December 2024 | Released January 28, 2025
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United States Employment Snapshot
In December, among the 50 states and the District of Columbia unemployment fell in 7, rose in 25, and remained unchanged in 19.
The highest unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in Nevada, and the lowest was 1.9 percent in South Dakota. Nationally, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage point to 4.1 percent.
In December, payroll jobs rose in 43 states and fell in 7. The largest payroll job percent increase was 0.4 percent in Missouri. The largest payroll job percent decline was 0.2 percent in Vermont.
New York Employment Snapshot
In December, New York added 6,100 net payroll jobs and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.4 percent. In the prior month, New York added 5,400 net payroll jobs.
Over the past 12 months, New York added 133,000 net payroll jobs and the unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points from 4.6 percent.
Nationally, nonfarm payrolls rose by 256,000 in December, or 0.2 percent. New York is tied for 25th in the nation for percentage gain in nonfarm payroll employment over the past 12 months.
In December, New York’s private sector added 7,200 net private payroll jobs, and over the past 12 months it added 112,700 private payroll jobs. In the prior month, New York added 7,500 net private payroll jobs.
In December, employment in New York fell by 6,931, and over the past 12 months it fell by 48,656.
New York’s labor force participation rate remained steady at 61.2 percent in December and ranks 37th in the nation. In the past 12 months, the labor force participation rate has fallen by 0.3 percentage points.
New York Payroll Employment
New York added 6,100 net payroll jobs, or 0.1 percent, on a seasonally adjusted basis during December. In the prior month, New York added 5,400 jobs. New York nonfarm payroll employment has increased in 9 of the past 12 months.
Nationally, nonfarm payrolls rose by 256,000 in December, or 0.2 percent. New York is tied for 25th in the nation for percentage gain in nonfarm payroll employment over the past 12 months.
New York added 7,200 private sector jobs, or 0.1 percent. on a seasonally adjusted basis during December. In the prior month, New York added 7,500 jobs. New York private sector payroll employment has increased in 10 of the past 12 months.
Nationally, private sector payroll jobs rose by 223,000 jobs in December, or 0.2 percent. New York is tied for 23rd in the nation for percentage gain in private sector payroll employment over the past 12 months.
The best performing sectors on a seasonally adjusted basis during December were Education and Health Services (8,700) and Leisure and Hospitality (7,000).
The poorest performing sectors during the month were Professional and Business Services (-2,900) and Construction (-4,400).
The best performing sectors during the last 12 months were Education and Health Services (118,700) and Government (20,300).
The poorest performing sectors during the last 12 months were Construction (-7,400) and Information (-11,800).
New York Labor Force
The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the civilian noninstitutionalized population age 16 and older who are employed or actively looking for work.
The labor force participation rate in New York remained unchanged at 61.2 percent in December.
New York ranks 37th in the nation.
The 10-year high for the labor force participation rate in New York was 61.5 percent in December 2023, and the 10-year low was 56.1 percent in April 2020.
The national labor force participation rate remained steady at 62.5 percent in December.