September 2, 2012. How are New Yorkers faring? Here’s the gist of this year’s annual report from FPI on the New York State economy:

• Unemployment in New York State has been around eight percent or higher for the past three and a half years, the longest stretch since the mid-1970s. The average duration of unemployment is currently nine months. The historic weakness of the recovery stems from the severity and nature of the Great Recession and financial

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November 29, 2011. New data show that New York families face smaller incomes, fewer opportunities, more hardship. The Fiscal Policy Institute’s 2011 annual edition of the State of Working New York examines how bad the Great Recession and the not-so-great “recovery” have been for the wages and incomes of typical New Yorkers. Of the 504,000 jobs lost, 80 percent are wage and salary positions, and about 20 percent represent fledgling businesses that haven’t been started because of the difficult economic… (read more)

August 31, 2011. FPI’s 2011 annual edition of the State of Working New York documents New York’s continuing unemployment crisis in the context of the weak national economic recovery. Two years into the “recovery” from the Great Recession of 2008-2009, one in seven New York workers is unemployed, under-employed or has given up looking for work – a total of 1.4 million New Yorkers. Long-term unemployment is at record levels. Half of the unemployed have been out of work for… (read more)

September 5, 2010. While New York and the nation have begun to see some modest job growth, unemployment rates remain unacceptably high and recovery is not yet helping most New York workers. New York is hardly unique; from December 2007 through December 2009, the state lost 250,000 jobs, a 2.8 percent job decline. Forty states had even worse job performance over that period. Those with managerial/professional occupations are earning more in New York City, while those in non-managerial/non-professional occupations are… (read more)

September 16, 2009. This edition of the State of Working New York is released as the country hobbles through the worst economic crisis – the steepest economic drop and the longest period of job loss – since the 1930s. We are in the midst of what’s been justly termed “The Great Recession.”

Over 850,000 New Yorkers are unemployed. The state’s official unemployment rate is 8.6 percent as of July 2009 – the most recent data available – and it is… (read more)

August 28, 2008. Job losses rise, straining state unemployment insurance. Unemployment is up by 56,000 in the first half of 2008; in 25 counties, the increase is over 20 percent. New York’s projected budget gaps have received considerable attention in Albany; the state’s growing unemployment is the other crisis to which Albany must also turn its attention.

• Press release
• Report

FPI’s State of Working New York series, published biennially since 1999, provides comprehensive and up-to-date analysis… (read more)

September 1, 2007. Upstate regions gain jobs, led by the Buffalo metro area. Four years into an economic expansion, New Yorkers finally got a slight raise last year, according to this year’s edition of The State of Working New York. In particular, the troubled upstate economy has experienced encouraging payroll growth, with Buffalo leading the way. But overall, these modest gains stand out against a backdrop of worrisome long-term trends. For example: workers aren’t seeing wage increases commensurate with their… (read more)

September 2, 2006. New York’s recovery has been uneven, with wages yet to rise while worker productivity climbs. Economic and fiscal pressures restrain the rebound for most of upstate; in particular, western New York lags.

• Press release (also below)
• Report
• Supplemental tables and graphs from the report. In addition, each appendix figure provides support or underlying details for the corresponding figure in the text: all appendices and individual tables:

1. Population of New York’s super-regions and region

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September 4, 2005. Gains of growth go to corporate profits and high-wage earners, while the middle class shrinks. The tenuous economic recovery of the past two years has been characterized by such weak wage growth that most of New York’s working families have been left treading water, according to the latest edition of the State of Working New York.  FPI’s State of Working New York series, published biennially since 1999, provides comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the data available… (read more)

September 6, 2004. The U.S. job market overall is still too weak to broadly distribute the benefits of the growing economy. The slack labor market has led to a situation in which wages have started to fall behind inflation. Press release with New York figures below or link to press release with tables and graphs.

FPI’s State of Working New York series, published biennially since 1999, provides comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the data available on the conditions facing… (read more)