Monthly Archives: September 1999

September 30, 1999. Press release: The new poverty statistics released today by the United States Census Bureau show that  New York's poverty rate remained high while the national poverty rate continues to fall. The national poverty rate declined for the fifth consecutive year. This year's decline was particularly large, from 13.3% to 12.7%. At the same time, however, New York's poverty rate showed no improvement. Actually New York's poverty rate increased from 16.5% in 1997 to 16.7% in 1998 but the Census Bureau recommends the [...]

September 1999.  By Frank J. Mauro. The first minimum wage at the federal level was signed into law in 1938, after several states including New York had enacted their own minimum wage laws. The U. S. Supreme Court had first invalidated such state laws as violating the liberty of contract and then upheld them as a proper exercise of the states' power to protect the public health, safety and welfare. From the very beginning, such laws protected responsible employers from the pressures that could be [...]

September 1, 1999. Prosperity bypasses most New Yorkers. Wages fall, the upstate economy falters, and the ranks of the working poor rise over the 1990s. Press release below. Executive Summary Introduction Chapter 1 - Income Chapter 2 - Wages & Compensation Chapter 3 - Jobs Chapter 4 - New York's Slow & Uneven Growth in the 1990's Chapter 5 - New York's Regions in the 1990's Capital District Central New York Finger Lakes Region Hudson Valley Long Island Mohawk Valley New York City North Country [...]