As one of the world’s most important financial centers and the home of nearly 10% of America’s Fortune 500 companies, New York is the economic powerhouse of the eastern United States. The banking, finance, agriculture, tourism, entertainment, fashion, advertising, communication, security, publishing and pharmaceutical industries are all significant creators of jobs in New York and its major metropolitan areas. Finance is important as a source of New York City jobs in particular; NYC is home to both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, the world’s two largest stock exchanges by average daily trading volume.

Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and the municipal government and NY public school system are some of the largest single providers of jobs in New York City. In recent years, high-tech sectors like Internet technology, new media, and life sciences have showed dynamic growth in the creation of jobs in NYC; the Milken Institute has ranked the NYC metro area as the nation’s largest for biotech-related employment. Statewide, the largest percentage of New York jobs is in the service sector; the education and healthcare fields are expected to show some of the greatest statistical employment growth over the next decade.