Economic Profile 2007

Employment - Current Status

This section presents the latest employment data (1st Quarter 2007) for New York City, Manhattan, and the Fashion Center BID (i.e., zip code 10018). It is important to note that employment statistics since the 1st quarter 2003 reflect the change-over from the SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) to the NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System). In effect, the implementation of the NAICS reflects the wide range of service-providing functions versus good-producing activities. Comparisons to prior periods can be made when looking at total employment, however, the various industry categories can not be directly compared, as the NAICS has introduced many new categories, and changed the definition of several categories.

On a citywide basis, the most recent figures are provided on a monthly basis, however, for Manhattan and New York City overall, we have used data that represents an annual average or the latest quarter in order to maintain comparability and account for seasonal variations in the data. For the Fashion Center BID, we have utilized data that reflects the boundaries defined by zip code 10018, as this is the smallest geographic area that data is complied and it approximates the Fashion Center BID to a large degree.

Additionally, we analyze tenant data from surveys performed by the Fashion Center BID in order to determine the distribution of fashion-related and non-fashion-related businesses.

New York City - Total Employment

Exhibit 1 presents the 1st quarter employment by category for New York City for 2006 and 2007. Total private sector employment was reported to be 3,032,635, a 2.8% increase from the 1st quarter 2006 figure of 2,951,137. As expected, the manufacturing sector showed a decline, a loss of 4.8% from last year. In all other sectors, total employment either rose slightly, or remained virtually at the same level. The exception occurred in the “Construction”, “Professional Technical & Scientific”, and the “Unclassified & Other” categories where the employment showed increases that were more than 5% between 2006 and 2007.

According to the NYS Department of Labor, during times of economic expansion, the “Construction” sector as well as the “Unclassified and Other” category is often very active. The growth in the “unclassified” sector mostly reflects new firms that haven't been assigned an industry (NAISC) code.

Overall, the private-sector employment data for New York City reflects the continued trend towards a service-, rather than manufacturing-, based economy. Approximately 17.8% of the total New York City private sector employment is within Healthcare & Social Assistance sector. The Finance and Insurance sector represents 11.1%, with the Professional Technical and Scientific sector representing 10.4%, and Retail Trade representing 9.3% of the total New York City private sector employment.

New York City – “Fashion Industry” Employment

New York City’s “Fashion Industry” employment for the 1st quarter 2006 and 2007 is presented in Exhibit 2.

New York City’s “Fashion Industry” employment was reported to be 59,035 for the 1st quarter 2007. This is a decrease of 1,491 employees between the 1st quarter 2006 and 2007. The total “Fashion Industry” employment only represents 1.9% of the total private sector employment in New York City. Within the “Fashion Industry”, the most significant drop occurred in the textile manufacturing (-4.9%) and apparel (-5.9%) manufacturing categories. In contrast, apparel wholesaling had a nominal increase in employment of 0.5%.

Manhattan – “Fashion Industry” Employment

Manhattan’s “Fashion Industry” employment for the 1st quarter 2006 and 2007 is presented in Exhibit 3.

Total “Fashion Industry” employment in Manhattan was reported to be 46,219 in the 1st quarter 2007, a decline of approximately 564 employees from the 2006 figure of 46,783. Total “Fashion Industry” employment represents 2.5% of the total private sector employment in Manhattan. Similar to the New York City data, employment within the textile and apparel manufacturing sectors declined significantly, while the apparel wholesale industry virtually remained the same.

Fashion Center BID – “Fashion Industry” Employment

Total private sector employment within the district (i.e., zip code 10018) was reported to be 96,412 for the 1st quarter 2007, a 3.2% increase over last year’s figure of 93,445. The “Fashion Industry” employment within the zip code was reported at about 24,455 in the 1st quarter 2007, a loss of 139 employees compared to last year. These figures are presented in Exhibit 4.

The textile and apparel manufacturing sub-sectors of accounted for the bulk of all Manufacturing employment within the zip code. “Fashion Industry” employment for the zip code showed a slight decline between 2006 and 2007. The textile manufacturing sectors had an overall increase in the number of firms, but a decrease of 3.2% in employment between 2006 and 2007. The apparel manufacturing sector also showed a decline, losing 167 employees between 2006 and 2007. Wholesale apparel, which represents a significant portion of the entire Wholesale Trade sector, had a slight increase (0.4%) in employment levels since last year. Overall, “Fashion Industry” employment as a percentage of total private sector employment continues to decline and is approximately 25.4% of the total private sector employment within the zip code, as opposed to 26.3% last year.

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