NYC lost about 30,000 private-sector jobs in August and September, comptroller says, with restaurants and hotels hit hard

New York City's private employers cut about 30,000 jobs over two months, according to the latest monthly economic outlook from Comptroller Mark Levine's office. Private-sector employment fell by 23,000 in September after a 7,400-job drop in August, a decline the office called concerning.

Levine wrote that the job market "has hit a wall," slowing nationally and dropping sharply in the city. Nationally, private employers added just 46,000 jobs in September, and July and August were revised down by a combined 70,000.

Where the jobs went

The comptroller's seasonally adjusted table for September shows:

• Private education: down about 14,300 in September, the largest one-month drop of any sector.
• Leisure and hospitality: down 7,700 in September and 17,000 over the year, despite what Levine called a relatively strong tourism season. Accommodation and food services alone lost about 6,900 jobs in September and are down about 15,300 from a year earlier.
• Finance: down 5,800, including about 2,400 in the securities industry.
• Information: down 1,700.
• Professional and business services: up 3,800, after losing roughly 11,000 jobs over the previous three months.
• Health care and social assistance: up about 4,000 in September and nearly 30,000 over the year.

Because health care and government hiring are driven more by demographics and policy than by the market, the comptroller's office prefers to track private jobs excluding health care. By that measure, the city is down 32,000 jobs over the past 12 months. Counting health care, private employment is down only slightly from September 2025.

Unemployment held steady

The city's unemployment rate stayed at 4.8% in September, its lowest level in a year and a half, but the comptroller noted that is partly because fewer people were looking for work. The city's Economic Development Corporation, in its October snapshot, said labor force participation fell to 62.0%, a sixth straight monthly decline, and that private job growth for the year so far is now negative, at about -16,300.

NYCEDC chief Anthony Shorris wrote that one challenging month does not define the economy, pointing to venture capital investment on pace for a record year, falling office vacancy and hotel occupancy above 2019 levels.

Prices are still rising

The comptroller's report also said New York-area inflation rose to 4.5% over the past year, with local energy prices up 21.5% and citywide rents up 5.6%.

What restaurant owners say

The New York Post spoke with restaurant owners who blamed higher costs for food, rent, insurance and utilities, along with slow permits, for closings and stalled openings. Andrew Rigie of the NYC Hospitality Alliance told the paper the numbers should "set off alarm bells" for the industry.

This week, 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. Read that story.