NYC Private Sector Lost About 30,000 Jobs in August and September, Comptroller Says

New York City's private sector shed about 30,000 jobs in August and September, according to Comptroller Mark Levine's October economic outlook.

Employers cut 23,000 jobs in September after a drop of 7,400 in August. Levine's office called the decline "concerning" and wrote that the job market "has hit a wall."

Where the jobs went

The biggest single hit was private education, down 14,300 in September. That is nearly double the loss in leisure and hospitality, which shed 7,700 jobs in the month despite a relatively strong tourism season.

Finance lost 5,800. Health care and social assistance kept growing, but not enough to offset the losses elsewhere.

Over the past year, leisure and hospitality is down 17,000 jobs. Restaurants and hotels alone account for about 15,000 of that.

The comptroller's office prefers to track private employment excluding health care, since hiring there follows demographics and policy more than market conditions. By that measure the city is down about 32,000 jobs over 12 months. Counting health care, private employment is down only slightly from September 2025.

The city's unemployment rate held at 4.8%, its lowest level in a year and a half. Levine's office noted that is partly because fewer people were looking for work.

The city Economic Development Corporation reported that labor force participation fell to 62.0%, a sixth straight monthly decline. It put private job growth for the year so far at about negative 16,300.

Owners point to costs and permits

The weak hiring sits alongside a cost squeeze. Levine's report put New York-area inflation at 4.5% over the past year, with energy prices up 21.5% and citywide rents up 5.6%.

Restaurant owners who spoke to the New York Post described the pressure in specific numbers. Dan Kluger, owner of Greenwich Village's Loring Place, announced its closure in July after nearly a decade. He said electricity bills climbed from roughly $8,000 a month to more than $14,000, and health insurance costs rose 38% this year.

Sam Musovic, who owns the Upper East Side bar Sojourn Social, said food prices and rent led him to close another restaurant last year, eliminating about 100 jobs.

George Tenedios, who owns nearly two dozen restaurants in the region, said construction approvals now take 10 to 15 weeks, compared with about four weeks two years ago. Other operators say the delays leave finished restaurants unable to open, which postpones hiring.

Andrew Rigie of the NYC Hospitality Alliance said the numbers should "set off alarm bells" for the industry. The Upper East Side trattoria Mezzaluna said it will close Nov. 1 after 42 years, with its founder citing rising costs and an expensive renovation.

The political fight

Some conservative commentators tie the losses to Mayor Zohran Mamdani's "tax the rich" agenda and expanded sanctuary-city measures, and say business groups cite those policies as added uncertainty. The data itself does not assign a cause. The comptroller's figures cover two months, and the owners quoted name energy, insurance, rent, food costs and permitting as their main burdens.

The city's economic development agency rejects the gloomy reading. NYCEDC president Anthony Shorris wrote that one challenging month does not define the economy. He pointed to venture capital investment on pace for a record year, falling office vacancy and hotel occupancy above 2019 levels.

The slowdown is not confined to New York. Nationally, private employers added just 46,000 jobs in September, and July and August were revised down by a combined 70,000. An estimated 3% GDP expansion in the latest quarter has not translated into hiring.

AI looms as a separate worry

A separate commentary on the state's labor market raised the possibility that artificial intelligence will hit low-income workers hardest. It cited Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing Black unemployment rose to 7% nationally in September 2026, against 3.6% for white workers and 4.2% overall.

The author conceded that one month does not establish a trend or prove AI is responsible.

New York already requires employers to disclose when AI plays a role in mass layoffs under its state WARN Act. Gov. Kathy Hochul launched a FutureWorks Commission in March to study AI's effect on workers. The AI Labor Information Act passed both chambers of the legislature earlier this year and awaits Hochul's signature. It would require certain businesses to report annually to the state Labor Department how they use AI and how it affects hiring.

What comes next

The comptroller's measure shows private employment excluding health care shrinking, while the city's own agency says the picture is mixed. The next monthly jobs report will show whether September was an outlier or the start of a longer slide. Hochul also still has to act on the AI reporting bill.