A new report released Thursday shows Brooklyn is doing better than the city as a whole when it comes to job losses thanks, in part, to its growing student population. NY1's Jeanine Ramirez filed the following report.

Home to 16 colleges and universities, Brooklyn attracts students from around the globe. And a new study says those educational institutions are one reason the borough has fared better than the rest of the city during this recession.

"The labor force in Brooklyn has been growing even in the downturn and is now $1.1 million. Over the last year it's been growing about 1.6 percent which is remarkable," said Fiscal Policy Institute Chief Economist James Parrott.

Many of the graduates are choosing to stay in the borough as they enter the work force and that has created a demand for housing, hotels, retail and restaurants -- all sectors that are holding up well during the financial crisis. They're the latest findings of the Labor Market Review released Thursday by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

"This is the most severe recession we've had since the Great Depression and it underscores the fact that Brooklyn still is a place to do business and that we are growing," said Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Carl Hum.

The Labor Market Review projects that the city overall will lose 115,000 jobs in 2009, but only about 8,500 of those will be in Brooklyn, mostly resulting from the downturn in the financial sector. Still, it's enough to cause average income borough-wide to drop.

"We do expect because of the recession to see a decline of 2.9 percent of total personal income. This will be the first decline in a 40 year history," Parrott said.

But the losses are offset somewhat by Brooklyn's steady job growth in the areas of health and social services, which are typically more recession-resistant sectors.

What has also helped Brooklyn's economy is federal stimulus money.

The borough got millions of dollars in federal aid for infrastructure improvements. A total of $186 million is being pumped into public housing, which includes an elevator rehabilitation project at the Whitman-Ingersoll Houses. There are also millions allotted for transportation spending, with $47 million going towards the rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Bridge alone.