Archive: News

New York added more than 312,000 jobs in the past two years, nearly 95 percent of the jobs lost during the recession. Still, some regions continue to struggle and the unemployment rate in New York is rising again, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

“New York’s economy is slowly recovering, but challenges remain, including the European debt crisis and deficit cutting decisions in Washington,” DiNapoli said. “The national economy also appears to be slowing, which could impact New York’s recovery. We are not out of the woods yet.”

New York City, which accounts for 44 percent of the jobs in New York State, gained 181,000 jobs since the recession, almost 41,000 more than it lost. Rochester regained 15,900 of the 19,000 jobs it lost.

While New York City’s suburbs have reported moderate gains, several upstate cities have regained only a portion of the jobs lost during the recession, and some have continued to lose jobs. For example, Syracuse has regained just 6,900 of the 13,700 jobs it lost during the recession while Buffalo has regained 11,900 of the 21,000 jobs lost. Additionally, many of the jobs added during the recovery were in industries that pay less, on average, than those lost during the recession.

The unemployment rate in New York is still below its recessionary peak, but the rate has risen over the past year as more people have reentered the labor market and it now exceeds the national rate. In April 2012, New York’s unemployment rate was 8.5 percent, compared to 8 percent a year earlier and the recessionary peak of 8.9 percent. Eight counties, such as Jefferson, Fulton and the Bronx, suffer from double-digit unemployment rates.

The securities industry, one of the state’s major economic engines, continues to face uncertainties. The industry reported large losses in the second half of 2011 (the first quarterly losses since the financial crisis), which contributed to an estimated 14 percent decline in cash bonuses and renewed job losses.

New York’s Gross State Product (GSP) rebounded strongly after the recession, exceeding the nationwide increase and ranking second among the 50 states in both 2010 and 2011. While the state’s growth rate eased to an estimated 3.8 percent in 2011, IHS Global Insight forecasts the rate will slow to 2.6 percent this year.

v8i21