Employment Statewide Recovering Slowly in 2021

• In calendar year 2021, the State gained over 226,000 jobs, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to growth nationally of 5.6 percent.
• Employment in the State was still 7.6 percent lower than that in 2019.
• The State’s unemployment rate fell from 9.9 percent in 2020 to 6.9 percent in 2021.
• The leisure and hospitality sector, the hardest hit industry during the pandemic, realized the largest job gains in 2021, 13.6 percent. However, employment in this sector was 25 percent below that in 2019.
• The financial activities and government sectors continued to have job losses.
• In 2021, employment increased in all 10 State regions. Long Island had the highest percentage of job gains of any region (4.5 percent) while the Capital Region had the lowest (1.2 percent).
• None of the 10 regions had returned to their 2019 employment levels.

New York Ranked 47th Nationwide for Personal Income Growth in 2021

• Personal income in 2021 grew by 5.3 percent, supported, in part, by the third round of economic impact payments (“stimulus checks”) and enhanced unemployment benefits through the third quarter of the year.
• Idaho ranked first with an increase
  of 9.6 percent.
• With employment growth, total wages in the State increased by 8.1 percent in 2021. The leisure and hospitality industry realized the largest increase in wages (21.3 percent).
• Average annual wages statewide increased by 5.9 percent. The finance and insurance sector had the largest growth (13.3 percent) due, in part, to large growth in bonuses paid in the first quarter.
• The arts, entertainment and recreation sector realized the smallest average annual wage growth, 1.4 percent.

NYS GDP Nearly $1.5 Trillion in 2021

A state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the value of production originating from all industries in the state, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

• New York State’s real GDP was nearly $1.5 trillion, slightly below 2019 levels.
• State GDP was 7.7 percent of the U.S. total in 2021, ranking third nationwide. 
• New York ranked 25th for economic growth in 2021 (5.0 percent). Tennessee had the highest (8.6 percent), while Alaska had the lowest (0.3 percent).
• The financial activities sector comprised the largest share of the State’s GDP in 2021 at 30.4 percent, up slightly from 30.3 percent in 2020. The second and third top industries—professional and business services and information—together make up 26.9 percent.

New York’s Population Declined in 2021

• According to U.S. Census estimates, the State’s population decreased by 1.8 percent from 2020, whereas the national population increased slightly, 0.1 percent.
• There were nearly 4.4 million immigrants in New York in 2020, 22.4 percent of the population.
• The number of immigrants to New York has been falling every year since 2017.