Governor’s office celebrates recovery of jobs lost to pandemic, plus new gains

Governor Kathy Hochul celebrated New York’s full economic recovery from the pandemic following the release Thursday of New York State Department of Labor data showing a total statewide private-sector job count of 8,346,200 jobs – the highest level on record.

According to the new data, New York gained 47,000 private-sector jobs in January 2024 with key sectors like Private Education and Health Services, Leisure and Hospitality, and Professional and Business Services driving job growth. Overall, the state has recovered 1,935,600 private-sector jobs since the height of the pandemic in April 2020 when statewide jobs reached a 30-year low of just 6.4 million jobs. The milestone follows signature initiatives by Governor Hochul to help businesses and workers recover from the pandemic – including a $1 billion Small Business Rescue Plan and $450 million “Bring Back Tourism, Bring Back Jobs” recovery package – and builds on the Governor’s commitment to making New York the most business-friendly and worker-friendly state in the nation.

“With jobs at an all-time high across the state, New York’s economy hasn’t just recovered – it’s been completely transformed,” Governor Hochul said. “Business is booming, New Yorkers are getting back to work, and thanks to a major economic relief package I announced in my first months in office, our communities are stronger and more vibrant than ever. New York is back, and with our historic recovery and record-breaking 8.3 million jobs, my administration is moving full-steam ahead to keep creating good-paying jobs that help New Yorkers build a future here in our state.”

New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, “I thank Governor Hochul for advancing initiatives that accelerated economic recovery, created career opportunities for New Yorkers, and supported businesses statewide. I encourage job seekers to take advantage of our robust services so we can help connect them to careers they will love.”

NYSDOL released new monthly jobs data, which shows an 0.6 percent increase in private-sector jobs since December 2023 and a 0.2 percent increase since January 2023. The growth was driven by key sectors like Natural Resources & Mining (6.1 percent), Private Education & Health Services (4.4 percent), Leisure & Hospitality (4.7 percent) and Finance (1.3 percent). In addition, the statewide unemployment rate decreased to 4.5 percent.

Private sector job growth was distributed across New York State from January 2023 to January 2024 with the highest rates of growth in Ithaca (6.4 percent), Watertown-Fort Drum (5 percent), Kingston (4.1 percent) and Glen Falls (2.5 percent). New York City’s total private sector job count also increased by 1.7 percent to 4,091,700 and private-sector jobs on Long Island rose by 1.8 percent to 1,129,100.

NYSDOL’s monthly jobs data is available here.

New York’s historic pandemic recovery reflects Governor Hochul’s broader commitment to making New York the most welcoming state in the nation for businesses and workers, and as part of that commitment, the Governor has embraced a sweeping innovation agenda to build emerging industries in New York. Governor Hochul signed New York’s historic Green CHIPS legislation to drive semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing in New York State and announced a $10 billion partnership to bring next-generation chips research to NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex. The Governor has continued to advance a $620 million Life Science Initiative to support innovation in biomedical research. And through strategic investments like the $113.7 million Battery-NY initiative, Governor Hochul has fueled the growth of the sustainability, green technology, and energy storage economies in New York State.

Governor Hochul is also committed to developing New York’s workforce and strengthening the talent pipeline to prepare New Yorkers for good-paying, 21st century jobs. As part of the FY 2023 Budget, the Governor secured funding to create a $350 million Office of Strategic Workforce Development focused on improving the State’s workforce development programs and practices to better align with the needs and priorities of today’s employers. Governor Hochul has also proposed a $200 million investment as part of her FY 2025 Executive Budget for the One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships (ON-RAMP) initiative to establish a network of four new workforce development centers along the I-90 corridor in upstate New York.

In addition, the Governor has continued to support local and regional economic development through signature initiatives such as the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, NY Forward, Restore NY and FAST NY.