Metro

Brooklyn leads the five boroughs for job growth: study

Here’s one more trend in which Brooklyn is leading the city — jobs.

The borough of artisanal cheese shops and fair-trade clothing stores has become New York’s most burgeoning employment market, according to a new state report.

Employers say that work is flowing to Brooklyn because the area is the laid-back anti-Manhattan.

“It’s more relaxed. I’m not caught up in the hustle and bustle,” said ­Sachia Munroe, 37, a real estate agent from Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“For the most part, people who work in Brooklyn also live in Brooklyn,” she added. “There is a greater appreciation for the neighborhood. It seems to be more cozy. It has a trend of vibrant, smaller businesses. It’s very accessible and bike-friendly.”

The news of the Brooklyn boom came in a report released Tuesday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, which found that the number of private-sector jobs in the city’s most populous borough jumped 19.8 percent between 2003 and 2012.

Irene Folgen, manager of an optical shop in Carroll Gardens, believes the uptick also has a lot to do with the borough’s diversity.

“It’s very multicultural,” she said. “You really do know your customers, where the city is faster-paced and more businesslike. It’s more family-like here.”

Zachary Koeber, 25, a salesperson from Crown Heights, agreed.

“The greatest thing about Brooklyn is the neighborhood community. It’s nice to make connections with people. It’s quieter,” he said.

The job growth was almost double the rate of the rest of the city, which saw a 10.6 percent increase.

The report said much of the job growth came in downtown Brooklyn, where 17 percent of the borough’s jobs are located.

DiNapoli credited the lower cost of doing business and the proximity to Manhattan for the growth of Brooklyn neighborhoods where young adults have congregated.

But the news wasn’t all good for Brooklyn’s 2.6 million residents. The unemployment rate was still 8.9 percent, nearly 50 percent over the national average of 6.3 percent.

The unemployment rate was highest in areas such as Brownsville, Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant and East New York.

The comptroller said areas such as Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Greenpoint had unemployment rates that were 50 percent lower than the boroughwide rate.

And while the jobs were growing, the paychecks weren’t. Despite 42 percent wage growth over the past decade, the average salary for a Brooklyn worker was a citywide low $38,550 in 2012.