New York City Overview

You’re not alone in New York City. With nearly 9.5 million workers in the area, New York City is home to the nation’s largest workforce as well as the nation’s largest employer base in a concentrated location. This means there are ample career opportunities in New York City, but tough competition as well. The New York City job outlook is improving as employers slowly stabilize their operations and expand hiring.

New York City Job Opportunities

New York City has it all -- cultural diversity, shopping, entertainment, dining, easy transportation, endless attractions -- in addition to a wide range of educational and job opportunities. Expenses are high, but higher salaries in New York City can counteract costs.

Key industries driving employment in New York City include education/health services; trade, transportation and utilities; and professional/business services. Over the past year, the most job opportunities have opened in leisure and hospitality as well as in professional/business services.

New York City Employment Trends

Hiring conditions are showing a slow and bumpy recovery as companies work to justify expanded hiring. The total number of employees increased in most months of 2011. Online hiring conditions, which weakened significantly during the recession, are sporadically improving. After peaking at 10.1 percent in early 2010, the New York City area’s unemployment rate had fallen only slightly, to 9.2 percent by May 2012.

Moody’s Analytics forecasts the number of jobs in New York City to increase 1.4 percent between Q2 2012 and Q2 2013, more than the 1.3 percent increase expected in the nation’s job supply.