New York ended 2022 with 458,000 job openings, but in a tight labor market nationally has one of the lowest job opening rates in the country, an analysis from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Thursday found. 

The state has struggled to regain the millions of jobs lost in the immediate wake of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly three years ago and is not expected to regain all the jobs lost until later this decade. 

Sectors of the state's economy hit the hardest include tourism and hospitality, especially in the New York City region. 

And in an economy defined by plentiful job openings across the country, the story in New York has been different. 

New York's job openings rate in December was 4.6%; the national rate at that time was 6.7%. New York was among the states to end December with lowest job opening rates in the country. 

There were about 297,000 hires in December in New York and 255,000 speatations, including 172,000 people who quit their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The jobs picture for New York has been complicated by an accelerating outmigration of people to other states over the last several years. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she wants to stem the loss of people to other states by expanding affordable housing in New York.