This section presents the latest employment data (1st Quarter 2003) for New York City, Manhattan, and the Fashion Center BID (i.e., zip code 10018). As noted earlier, the 1st quarter 2003 statistics reflect the change-over from the SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) to the NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System). (See definitions in Introduction) Comparisons to prior periods can be made when looking at total employment, however, the various industry categories can not be compared, as the NAICS has introduced many new categories, and changed the definition of several categories.

Employment data for New York City for the 1st quarter 2003 is presented below.

Exhibit 5
New York City Employment By Category
1st Qtr 2003
Based on NAICS Classifications

Source: NYS Department of Labor

Total private sector employment was reported to be 2,860,553, a 2.4% decrease from the 4th quarter 2002. As noted above, the 1st quarter 2003 is the starting point for the implementation of the NAICS and the variety of new categories that reflect the wide range of service-providing functions versus good-producing activities. As expected, the manufacturing sector showed a declined, not only because of the slowdown in the economy, but also because of the application of the NAICS which assigned many of the management and administrative support functions that were previous grouped under the heading of manufacturing. Similarly, in prior periods under the SIC system, the large number of “unclassified” has been reduced under the NAICS. Overall, it is clear that the employment data for New York City reflects the trend towards a service-, rather than manufacturing-, based economy. Over 73% of the total employment is within service-oriented industries.

New York City - "Fashion Industry" Employment

New York City’s “Fashion Industry” employment for the 1st quarter 2003 is presented in Exhibit 6.

Exhibit 6
New York City "Fashion Industry"
Employment
1st Qtr 2003
Based on NAICS Classifications

Industry	Total Firms	Total Employees
Total Manufacturing	8,296	128,466
Textile*	556	6,372
Apparel**	2,491	36,164
Wholesale Apparel***	3,339	30,183
Total Fashion Industry Empl.	6,386	72,719
Total Private Sector Empl.	215,589	2,860,553

*NAICS Codes 313 & 314
**NAICS code 315
*** NAICS Code 4243
Source: NYS Department of Labor

New York City’s “Fashion Industry” employment was reported to be 72,719 for the 1st quarter 2003. This is a decline of over 8,600 employees. Some of this decline can be due to a shift in industry definitions. However, given the overall decline in employment, not all of the “Fashion Industry” drop can be attributed the new NAICS system.

Manhattan’s “Fashion Industry” employment for the 1st quarter 2003 is presented in Exhibit 7.

Exhibit 7
Manhattan"Fashion Industry" Employment
1st Qtr 2003
Based on NAICS Classifications

*NAICS Codes 313 & 314
**NAICS code 315
*** NAICS Code 4243
Source: NYS Department of Labor

Total “Fashion Industry” employment in Manhattan was reported to be 51,494 in the 1st quarter 2003, a decline of approximately 7,400 employees. This represents the bulk of the overall New York City loss in the “Fashion Industry”. We suspect this is because most of the administrative and management functions that were shifted due to the new classification impacted Manhattan more than the ourter-boroughs. The “Fashion Industry” represented 2.9% of Manhattan private sector employment, as opposed to only 2.4% citywide.

Total private sector employment within the district (i.e., zip code 10018) was reported to be 83,603 for the 1st quarter 2003, with “Fashion Industry” employment at about 25,956. This is presented in Exhibit 8.

Exhibit 8
Zip Code 10018 Employment By Category
1st Qtr 2003
Based on NAICS Classifications

Total "Fashion Industry" Employment 25,956
% of total Private Sector Employment 31.0%

Source: NYS Department of Labor

The Textile and Apparel Manufacturing sub-sectors accounted for the bulk of all Manufacturing employment. Similarly, Wholesale Apparel represented a significant portion of the entire Wholesale Trade sector. “Fashion Industry” employment as a percentage of total private sector employment is approximately 31.0%. This is slightly lower than 33.5% of total employment reported in the 4th quarter 2003.

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