NY state lost more than 1 million jobs in 2020 amid COVID-19 pandemic: report
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York state lost more than 1 million jobs in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the economy, according to a new report.
Between December 2019 and December 2020, the state lost 1,018,400 private sector and government jobs, representing a 10.3 percent decline in the number of existing jobs, a Department of Labor report released Thursday shows.
New York City lost 578,000 of those jobs; Orange, Rockland and Westchester Counties lost 61,900; and Nassau and Suffolk County lost 104,700, the report says.
New York state's Leisure & Hospitality and private-sector Educational & Health Services sectors were hit hardest, losing 366,600 and 157,600 jobs, respectively.
The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, however, did decline in December, falling from 8.4 percent in November to 8.2 percent, according to the report.
The decrease marked the "fifth straight month of declining unemployment rates in New York state — bucking the national trend," the report noted.
