Employment Up In City Bars And Restaurants Since Implementation Of The Smoke-Free Air Act  

NEW YORK CITY – July 23, 2003 – Employment in New York City’s restaurants and bars has increased by about 1,500 seasonally-adjusted jobs, amounting to an absolute gain of nearly 10,000 jobs since the implementation of the Smoke Free Air Act, according to data from the New York State Department of Labor. The increase between March and June of 2003 is slightly larger than the increase seen during the same period last year. The data available thus far show that the Smoke Free Air Act, which went into effect on March 30, 2003, has not had a negative impact on employment in bars and restaurants in New York City.

The data were announced by Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, and Economic Development Corporation President Andrew Alper at Scruffy Duffy’s, a bar in midtown Manhattan. Patrick Hughes, the proprietor of Scruffy Duffy’s, Sage Bartlett, a bartender/waitress, Kimberly Knox, a club event promoter, and Jerry Cuozzo, a bartender, were also present for the announcement.

Dr. Frieden said, “The Smoke-Free Air Act is about workers. It’s about workers not having to risk cancer and heart disease to hold a job. Thousands of lives will be saved because of this legislation. Today’s data indicate that as with previous smoke-free laws in New York City and elsewhere, the law has not had an overall negative impact on business. While there have been reports of some establishments losing business – and even a single worker losing a job is tragic – the City’s bar and restaurant industry grew by 10,000 jobs, nearly 1,500 seasonally-adjusted jobs in the first three months of implementation of the law. This is consistent with previous trends.”

“The restaurant and bar industry makes up a critical component of our economy. Not only does it account for a significant part of our employment base, but the huge diversity of the City’s restaurants and bars are a major reason people want to live here and companies want to locate here,” said Economic Development Corporation President Andrew Alper. “We have not seen any evidence that the Smoke-Free Air Act, which is obviously contributing to the health of our restaurant and bar workers, is causing a decline in employment in this sector.”

"The Smokefree Air Act benefits both me and my customers. My tips have remained steady, and I no longer come home each night from work with puffy eyes and a sore throat. Just about all of my customers love a smoke-free bar, and now they stay even longer," said Jerry Cuozzo, a bartender in Manhattan.

Seasonally adjusted employment in the food & beverage service sector has increased an average 3% annually over the past 10 years. The sector employed nearly 160,000 workers in June 2003, up from 121,000 ten years earlier. These data show that employment growth in the City’s eating and drinking establishments between March and June was greater than last year’s, 0.9% and 0.2%, respectively (Chart 1). Unadjusted employment data for March though June 2003 showed that employment in bars and restaurants increased by 6.3% compared to 6.0% for the same period last year. Between March and June of 2003, employment increased from 155,200 to 164,900 (an increase of 9,700 jobs) in the restaurant and bar industry. This is similar to growth seen last year; 9,300 jobs were added between March and June of 2002.

The findings are consistent with a recent Zogby poll – most New Yorkers do not change their patterns of eating and drinking out because of smoke-free laws, and among those who do, more report going out more than report going out less. The poll found that 16% of New Yorkers are more likely to go out now than they were before the law went into effect, compared to 11% who said they would go out less often. The poll also confirmed the strong support for the law in New York City, where 79% of respondents favored the smoke-free workplace legislation.

Pat Hughes, owner and proprietor of Scruffy Duffy’s said: “My health and the health of my employees is simply better since the Smoke Free Air Act went in to effect. The best part is that it has not hurt my business’ bottom line.”

Methods

To better account for overall economic trends in this industry, various economic models were tested to isolate the effect, if any, of the Smoke Free Air Act on employment in restaurants and bars. The economic analysis uses the Coincident Economic Index (CEI) for New York City that was developed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Given the data available thus far, the model indicates that the actual growth in restaurant and bar employment was similar to what would have been expected, whether or not the Smoke Free Air Act had not been enacted (Chart 3). These data confirm prior analyses, which indicated that the 1995 Smoke Free Air Act had no negative impact on employment in the food & beverage sector in New York City.

Employment data are derived from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey released by the New York State Department of Labor, which summarizes monthly employment, hours and earnings data from a sample of approximately 18,000 New York State employers. This survey is also referred to as the establishment, or wage and salary employment survey. The employment statistics represent persons employed full- or part-time in nonagricultural establishments during the payroll period including the 12th of the month. The industry data use the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code representing Food Service and Drinking Places. The data were adjusted by NYCEDC to remove seasonal fluctuations to analyze month-over-month comparison of employment numbers.

CONTACT:

Sandra Mullin/Greg Butler (DOHMH) (212) 788-5290; (212) 764-7667
Michael Sherman (EDC) (212) 312-3523

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