Employment Growth
Each month the US Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its monthly estimates concerning growth of jobs in the United States. This release is followed approximately 2 weeks later by a release by the New York State Department of labor detailing employment growth at the state, metropolitan area, and county level.
All of this information is compiled using employer information obtained from a survey called the Current Employment Statistics Survey. This survey utilizes information obtained from 18,000 business establishments in New York State to estimate levels of employment growth.
The sample survey is developed using models developed by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. These models are utilized by all of the states, to insure a uniform approach to compiling and reporting employment growth information.
These figures are adjusted or revised as necessary in the following month, or at the end of the year as more complete and accurate employment information is obtained.
The survey does not include agricultural workers, self-employed individuals or domestic workers employed in private homes.
The data obtained may be adjusted to take into consideration occurrences which can change the level of employment growth or decrease. The information may be released as “seasonally adjusted” information or “not seasonally adjusted” data, depending on the focus of the report being issued.
Seasonally adjusted data is information that has had a statistical formula applied to it, or adjusted, to take into consideration regular seasonal fluctuations in employment levels. This could take into considerations such things as unemployment caused by the end of the school year for instance, or normal seasonal hiring at a ski resort which happens every year.
The adjustment allows labor market analysts to get a clearer idea what is happening in regards to employment patterns on a month to month comparative basis without taking into consideration normal seasonal hiring or layoff patterns which may hide or mask other important employment trends.
“Not Seasonally adjusted” data is not subjected to a formula to adjust the information. This type of report is survey information which indicates employment levels at the particular point in time, without regard to seasonal fluctuations. This information is especially useful in making year to year comparisons of employment growth
There are 2 employment reports which will be included in the NYSAC Economy Watch: Non Farm Employment and Private Sector Employment.
Non-Farm Employment measures employment in all non-farm jobs, including those positions in government, public schools and other public entities.
The report of private sector employment takes into consideration employment in private sector jobs only, and eliminates government, education and other public sector employment.
Non-Farm Employment is the only employment growth number that is available on a county basis. Two reports are issued covering metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan. The metropolitan areas include the following counties:
- Albany/Schenectady/Troy - Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie Counties
- Binghamton – Broome & Tioga Counties
- Buffalo-Niagara – Erie & Niagara Counties
- Glens Falls – Warren & Washington Counties
- Ithaca – Tompkins County
- Kingston – Ulster County
- Nassau –Suffolk - Nassau & Suffolk Counties
- New York City - Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond Counties
- Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown – Dutchess and Orange Counties
- Rochester – Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Wayne Counties
- Syracuse – Madison, Onondaga, Oswego Counties
- Utica-Rome – Herkimer and Oneida Counties
All other counties are included in non-metropolitan county Non-Farm employment reports. For graphing purposes, NYSAC will include the following counties in grouped reports
Non Metropolitan Areas
- Southern New York – Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware Otsego, Schuyler, Steuben, Sullivan Counties
- Finger Lakes – Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Genesee, Wyoming, Yates
- North Country – Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St Lawrence Counties
- Mohawk/Capital – Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery Counties
For more information on Employment Growth projections, visit the website of the New York State Department of Labor, Division of Research and Statistics at:
http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workforceindustrydata/index.shtm
