The local economy of New York and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data, plus daily local gas prices for the state, its counties and metro areas.
Unemployment rate
4.3%
-0.2 ptsvs a year ago
Counties: lowest Yates County 2.9%, highest Bronx County 7.1%.
August 2026, seasonally adjusted, preliminary
Average weekly pay
$2,363
+6.5%vs a year ago
9,743,576 jobs at 710,513 business locations.
Q1 2026, all jobs
New homes permitted
48,587
+49.4%this year vs last year
Most in Bronx County 9,578, Kings County 9,021.
Homes in the last 12 months, to August 2026
People moving in
-164,112
-10.7 per 1,000residents
276,012 moved in and 440,124 moved out. Most newcomers came from New Jersey.
Net people, 2022 to 2023, the newest year published
New York gas price
$4.47
+$1.30vs a year ago
Counties: lowest Seneca County $4.28, highest New York County $5.06. Counties and metro areas
Regular, per gallon, New York, October 9, 2026
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for the history of that area.
The state, its counties and metro areas, updated daily. A separate series from the weekly survey prices above.
Business locations, employees and payroll by industry, 2023. Click an industry for its US report.
Business locations
541K
+0.2%vs 2022
2023, places with paid employees
Employees
8.77M
+4.0%vs 2022
Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance (21.2%).
2023, mid-March
Annual payroll
$751.6B
Wages and salaries paid during the year.
2023, all industries
Average pay
$85,730
Highest sector: Finance and Insurance $253,324.
Per employee per year
Share of New York's employees, 2023
| Industry | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and Other Eating Places | 598,860 | $30,359 |
| Employment Services | 473,168 | $116,082 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | 421,734 | $94,817 |
| Individual and Family Services | 328,981 | $35,225 |
| Home Health Care Services | 306,913 | $32,884 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools | 265,885 | $73,148 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 211,253 | $151,526 |
| Grocery Stores | 191,013 | $30,112 |
| Offices of Physicians | 154,739 | $97,095 |
| Depository Credit Intermediation | 153,244 | $170,001 |
| Building Equipment Contractors | 130,290 | $82,248 |
| Legal Services | 120,764 | $159,552 |
Most values are changed slightly to protect the privacy of single businesses; a few are withheld and shown as a range. Counties and metro areas have the same numbers in the area card above (Industries).
Cost, students and graduate earnings of the colleges in the state, from official public data.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for New York, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for New York is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row. Daily gas prices are average pump prices for New York, its counties and metro areas on the day shown. The weekly gas prices in the explorer come from a separate weekly survey that publishes a price for only some states, so a state without one shows the price of its region there; the two series are never combined.
The unemployment rate in New York was 4.3% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 4.5% a year earlier. 9,596,956 people were employed out of a labor force of 10,029,913. Among its counties, Yates County had the lowest rate (2.9%) and Bronx County the highest (7.1%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in New York was $2,363 in Q1 2026, up 6.5% from a year earlier, across 9,743,576 jobs at 710,513 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 3,680 new homes in New York in August 2026 (854 single-family and 2,683 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 31,217, up 49.4% from the same months last year, and 48,587 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Bronx County (9,578), Kings County (9,021), Queens County (6,729) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 276,012 people moved to New York and 440,124 moved away, a net loss of 164,112 (-10.7 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from New Jersey, Florida, California, and most people who left went to New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania.
Regular gasoline in New York averaged $4.47 per gallon on October 9, 2026, up $1.30 from a year earlier. Diesel averaged $6.51. Among its counties, Seneca County had the lowest regular price ($4.28) and New York County the highest ($5.06). In the weekly survey, New York averaged $4.38 in the week of October 5, 2026.
Health Care and Social Assistance (1,861,291 employees), Retail Trade (862,844 employees), Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services (839,713 employees) were the largest sectors in New York in 2023. In all, 541,313 business locations employed 8,767,091 people at an average pay of $85,730 a year.