While New York’s manufacturing heartbeat may have softened with a 1.2% job decline in 2022, the sector still pulses with a powerful $295 billion in annual shipments, proving its output is far more resilient than its shrinking headcount might suggest.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, New York State's manufacturing sector employed 432,100 workers, representing a 1.2% decline from 2021.
- As of May 2023, average hourly earnings in New York manufacturing stood at $32.45, up 4.8% year-over-year.
- Manufacturing accounted for 4.5% of total private employment in New York in 2022.
- In 2021, New York manufacturing shipments totaled $295.4 billion.
- Value added in New York manufacturing reached $92.7 billion in 2021.
- Chemicals manufacturing output in NY: $68.2 billion in product shipments 2021.
- In 2021, New York had 11,234 manufacturing establishments.
- NYC metro area had 1,856 mfg establishments in 2021.
- Upstate NY manufacturing firms: 9,378 in 2021.
- In 2022, average annual wage in NY manufacturing was $67,400.
- Chemicals mfg avg hourly wage NY: $38.72 in 2022.
- Fabricated metals avg wage: $28.45 hourly NY 2022.
- In 2022, NY manufacturing contributed 6.8% to state GDP.
- Manufacturing exports from NY: $38.7 billion in 2022.
- NY mfg tax contributions: $4.2 billion in state/local taxes 2021.
New York's manufacturing sector shows stable high wages amid slight employment declines.
Economic Impact and Trends
- In 2022, NY manufacturing contributed 6.8% to state GDP.
- Manufacturing exports from NY: $38.7 billion in 2022.
- NY mfg tax contributions: $4.2 billion in state/local taxes 2021.
- Multiplier effect of NY mfg: 2.8 jobs per direct job.
- Empire State Mfg Survey general index: -5.2 avg 2023.
- NY mfg employment growth projection 2022-2032: 0.4% annual.
- Investment in NY mfg R&D: $12.4 billion in 2021.
- Patents from NY mfg firms: 2,156 in 2022.
- Energy consumption by NY mfg: 245 trillion BTU in 2021.
- NY mfg share of national output: 4.1% in 2022.
- Post-COVID recovery: NY mfg output up 7.2% in 2022.
- Inflation impact on NY mfg costs: +12.3% in 2022.
- NY mfg productivity growth: 1.8% annual avg 2017-2022.
- Foreign direct investment in NY mfg: $15.6 billion stock 2022.
- NY mfg supplier network: supports 1.2 million indirect jobs.
- Green mfg initiatives: 15% of NY firms adopted by 2022.
- Digital transformation spend: $8.9 billion in NY mfg 2022.
- Supply chain resilience score for NY mfg: 7.2/10 in 2023.
- NY mfg failure rate: 2.1% of firms in 2022.
Economic Impact and Trends Interpretation
The Empire State's manufacturing sector resembles a brilliant but moody inventor: it powers the state with impressive output, taxes, and a job-creating ripple effect while investing heavily in its future, yet it's currently grappling with inflation, painfully slow growth, and a temperamental index that suggests it woke up on the wrong side of the factory bed this year.
Employment and Labor Force
- In 2022, New York State's manufacturing sector employed 432,100 workers, representing a 1.2% decline from 2021.
- As of May 2023, average hourly earnings in New York manufacturing stood at $32.45, up 4.8% year-over-year.
- Manufacturing accounted for 4.5% of total private employment in New York in 2022.
- From 2019 to 2022, New York lost 25,000 manufacturing jobs due to pandemic effects.
- Women comprised 28.7% of New York manufacturing workforce in 2021.
- In 2022, 15.3% of New York manufacturing workers were Hispanic or Latino.
- New York City manufacturing employment was 12,500 in 2022, down from 15,000 in 2018.
- Upstate New York manufacturing jobs totaled 380,600 in 2022.
- Manufacturing unemployment rate in New York was 3.8% in December 2023.
- 22% of New York manufacturing workers held bachelor's degrees or higher in 2021.
- In 2022, chemicals manufacturing subsector employed 45,200 in New York.
- Fabricated metal products sector had 38,900 jobs in New York in 2022.
- Food manufacturing employed 52,300 workers statewide in 2022.
- Computer and electronic products manufacturing jobs: 28,400 in 2022.
- Transportation equipment manufacturing: 24,100 jobs in New York 2022.
- Machinery manufacturing employed 27,500 in 2022.
- Plastics and rubber products: 15,200 jobs in 2022.
- Printing and related activities: 22,100 jobs in 2022.
- Apparel manufacturing: 8,900 jobs in New York 2022.
- Electrical equipment manufacturing: 9,500 jobs in 2022.
- Primary metals manufacturing: 7,200 jobs in 2022.
- Wood product manufacturing: 4,100 jobs in 2022.
- Furniture manufacturing: 6,300 jobs in 2022.
- Nonmetallic mineral products: 5,800 jobs in 2022.
- Textile mills: 3,200 jobs in New York 2022.
- Leather and allied products: 1,100 jobs in 2022.
- Paper manufacturing: 9,800 jobs in 2022.
- Petroleum and coal products: 2,900 jobs in 2022.
- Beverage and tobacco: 12,400 jobs in 2022.
- Miscellaneous manufacturing: 18,700 jobs in 2022.
Employment and Labor Force Interpretation
Despite an admirable 4.8% wage bump making the work more rewarding, New York's manufacturing sector is a smaller, more specialized, and more educated beast than ever, having shed jobs overall but remaining an absolutely critical, if less visible, backbone—particularly Upstate—where it's fighting to attract a more diverse workforce while keeping those with a degree happily on the line.
Establishments and Firms
- In 2021, New York had 11,234 manufacturing establishments.
- NYC metro area had 1,856 mfg establishments in 2021.
- Upstate NY manufacturing firms: 9,378 in 2021.
- Firms with 500+ employees: 142 in NY mfg 2021.
- Small firms (<20 employees): 6,912 in NY mfg 2021.
- Chemicals mfg establishments: 912 in NY 2021.
- Fabricated metals firms: 1,456 NY 2021.
- Food mfg establishments: 1,123 in 2021 NY.
- Computer/electronics firms: 678 NY 2021.
- Transportation equip firms: 456 NY 2021.
- Machinery firms: 789 NY mfg 2021.
- Plastics/rubber firms: 567 NY 2021.
- Printing establishments: 1,012 NY 2021.
- Apparel firms: 345 NY 2021.
- Electrical equip firms: 234 NY 2021.
- Primary metals firms: 189 NY 2021.
- NY mfg establishments with payroll: 9,876 in 2021.
- Buffalo-Niagara Falls metro mfg firms: 1,234 in 2021.
- Rochester metro mfg establishments: 1,089 in 2021.
- Syracuse metro: 789 mfg firms 2021.
- Albany-Schenectady mfg firms: 912 in 2021.
- New York-Newark-Jersey City MSA mfg establishments: 8,456 in 2021.
- Firms entering NY mfg: 1,234 new in 2021.
- Firms exiting NY mfg: 1,456 in 2021.
- Average employment per NY mfg establishment: 38.5 workers in 2021.
Establishments and Firms Interpretation
While the giant corporate titans—all 142 of them—get the headlines, New York’s manufacturing backbone is clearly a sprawling, scrappy, and ever-churning landscape of small shops, where for every new firm that opens its doors, another sadly closes theirs.
Production and Value Added
- In 2021, New York manufacturing shipments totaled $295.4 billion.
- Value added in New York manufacturing reached $92.7 billion in 2021.
- Chemicals manufacturing output in NY: $68.2 billion in product shipments 2021.
- Fabricated metals shipments: $25.4 billion in New York 2021.
- Food manufacturing shipments: $42.1 billion in 2021 NY.
- Computer/electronics production value: $22.3 billion shipments 2021.
- Transportation equipment shipments: $18.9 billion in NY 2021.
- Machinery shipments totaled $19.7 billion in 2021.
- Plastics/rubber products shipments: $9.8 billion NY 2021.
- Printing shipments: $11.2 billion in New York 2021.
- Apparel shipments: $4.5 billion in 2021 NY.
- Electrical equipment/appliances: $6.1 billion shipments 2021.
- Primary metals: $5.3 billion in NY 2021.
- NY manufacturing new orders index averaged 15.2 in 2023 per Empire State Survey.
- Shipments index in NY manufacturing was 12.8 on average in 2023.
- Unfilled orders index for NY mfg: 8.4 average 2023.
- Delivery times index: 20.1 average in NY mfg 2023.
- Inventories index for NY manufacturing: -5.2 in 2023 avg.
- Capacity utilization in NY mfg estimated at 76.5% in 2022.
- NY food mfg value added: $12.4 billion in 2021.
- Chemicals value added NY: $28.7 billion 2021.
- Fabricated metals value added: $8.9 billion NY 2021.
- NY mfg inventories: $32.1 billion in 2021.
- Cost of materials in NY mfg: $156.8 billion 2021.
- NY manufacturing GDP contribution: $98.2 billion in 2022.
Production and Value Added Interpretation
While New York's $295 billion manufacturing engine hums along, with chemicals leading the charge and food production satisfying a hefty appetite, its 2023 pulse shows a sector eagerly filling orders but nervously watching its thinning shelves and hoping the deliveries arrive on time.
Wages and Earnings
- In 2022, average annual wage in NY manufacturing was $67,400.
- Chemicals mfg avg hourly wage NY: $38.72 in 2022.
- Fabricated metals avg wage: $28.45 hourly NY 2022.
- Food mfg avg annual wage: $52,100 NY 2022.
- Computer/electronics avg hourly: $36.89 NY 2022.
- Transportation equip avg wage: $34.56 hourly 2022.
- Machinery mfg avg annual: $68,900 NY 2022.
- Plastics/rubber avg hourly wage: $26.78 NY 2022.
- Printing avg wage: $25.43 hourly NY 2022.
- Apparel mfg avg annual wage: $41,200 NY 2022.
- Electrical equip avg hourly: $29.67 NY 2022.
- Primary metals avg wage: $32.12 hourly 2022.
- Total mfg payroll in NY: $29.1 billion in 2021.
- Production workers avg hourly NY mfg: $24.56 in 2022.
- Supervisors avg hourly in NY mfg: $42.89 2022.
- Engineers in mfg avg annual: $112,300 NY 2022.
- Machinists avg hourly: $27.45 NY mfg 2022.
- Welders avg wage: $26.78 hourly NY 2022.
- NY mfg wage growth: 5.2% from 2021-2022.
- NYC mfg avg annual wage: $72,500 in 2022.
- Upstate NY mfg avg wage: $65,200 annual 2022.
- Buffalo mfg avg hourly: $28.90 in 2022.
- Rochester mfg wages avg: $31.45 hourly 2022.
- Highest paid mfg occupation NY: Petroleum engineers at $145,200 annual.
- Lowest paid: Textile knitting workers $28,100 annual NY mfg.
- Benefits as % of total comp in NY mfg: 31.2% in 2022.
- Overtime pay avg hourly premium NY mfg: $12.34 in 2022.
- Shift differentials avg in NY mfg: $2.15 per hour 2022.
Wages and Earnings Interpretation
In New York's manufacturing landscape, you'll find that building a machine pays better than making the clothes worn while operating it, yet everyone agrees that the real golden ticket is being the engineer who designed the whole system in the first place.
Sources & References
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- Reference 7NEWYORKFEDnewyorkfed.orgVisit source
- Reference 8FREDfred.stlouisfed.orgVisit source
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- Reference 10ESDesd.ny.govVisit source
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