Business profits in New York State have grown much faster than wages since 2001

December 1, 2015. In a new analysis, the Fiscal Policy Institute finds that business profits per worker in New York State increased by 61% from 2001-13, while labor compensation per worker has risen by only 34%, and the typical worker received wage increases of 25-29%, much less than inflation. James Parrott, the Institute’s Deputy Director and Chief Economist stated: “These data confirm once again that most workers in New York have not been sharing in the fruits of the state’s economic growth over the past [...]

New York City’s Recovery Finally Starts Generating Wage Gains

April 13, 2015. In this report, FPI's analysis shows that New York City's recovery is finally starting to generate wage gains. After years of wage and family income declines since the 2008-09 recession, several signs are emerging of real wage growth in New York City. The three major current government economic data sets all point to fairly widespread and firmly-established wage growth beginning in 2014. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) average private hourly earnings data show a 2.7 percent real gain for the six months [...]

Wage Standards are Key to Reversing the Erosion of Wages and Living Standards in New York City

December 16, 2014. Despite considerable growth in the New York City economy over the past two decades, very little of that growth has trickled down to the average worker and his or her family, according to our new report. Wage standards like the minimum wage and the living wage are critical in ensuring that there is a floor under the job market and that workers are adequately paid. Prevailing wage standards, however, are a key means to ensure that skilled labor provides a path into [...]

Economic and fiscal impacts of proposed consolidations involving 5 postal facilities

November 10, 2014.  The American Postal Workers Union asked FPI to estimate the net economic and fiscal impacts of proposed consolidations involving five postal facilities around the country. The proposed consolidations were part of a nationwide “cost-savings” plan that would have further slowed mail delivery times. One of these involved a proposal to downsize sorting operations at the mail processing center in Newburgh, New York, in the lower Hudson Valley and to consolidate these operations at the Albany processing and distribution facility, 90 miles away. [...]

Briefing on Mayor deBlasio’s Preliminary FY 2015 NYC Budget: Initial Progressive Steps, More to Come

March 11, 2014. In his review of NYC Mayor Bill deBlasio’s first budget, FPI’s James Parrott notes the new mayor’s progressive change in direction compared to prior City budgets. Not surprisingly, the major new initiative included in the Preliminary FY 2015 budget is full funding for the UPK/afterschool proposal scheduled for launch in the fall of 2014. The briefing summarizes trends in state and federal aid, and analyzes projections for tax revenue growth. Parrott describes the municipal labor contract situation as a challenge but not [...]

New Report Examines Shale Drilling Impact

November 21, 2013. Drilling in the six states that span the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations has produced far fewer new jobs than the industry and its supporters claim, according to a report by the Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative, a group of research organizations tracking the impacts of shale drilling that includes the Fiscal Policy Institute. The Marcellus and Utica shale formations span six states: New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. Natural gas development in these six states was fueled by high [...]

The Taxpayer Costs of Low-Wage Fast Food Jobs in New York State

October 16, 2013. Fast food jobs are by far the biggest source of job growth in New York State and New York City in this recovery and over the past decade. But, with a median hourly pay of only $8.90 an hour in NYC, this growth in fast food jobs is one of the reasons that poverty has risen sharply during the recovery. NYC has a record number of working poor—one out of every 10 workers in NYC works, but can’t earn enough to lift [...]

State of Working New York 2013: Workers Are Paying a High Price for Persistent Unemployment

August 28, 2013. New York workers are paying a high price for persistent unemployment four years into the weakest recovery since the Great Depression, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute’s (FPI) 2013 edition of The State of Working New York. The report notes that in addition to lost job opportunities and health benefits, New York workers are suffering from prolonged periods of joblessness, and high rates of underemployment (or “hidden unemployment”), reflecting more discouraged workers who have given up looking for work. Moreover, out-of-work New [...]

Investing in education will build a stronger New York economy

August 22, 2013. The best way for New York State to grow its economy is by expanding investment in a well-educated workforce, according to a new study published by Economic Policy Institute for the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN). EARN is a network of 61 state and local economic think tanks and 25 national partners founded by the Economic Policy Institute and several other state and national groups, including the Fiscal Policy Institute. In A Well Educated Workforce is Key to State Prosperity, Noah [...]

Barriers to Entry: The Increasing Challenges Faced by Young Adults in the NYC Labor Market

May 2, 2013. A new report from JobsFirstNYC and co-authored by James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist, Fiscal Policy Institute, and Lazar Treschan, Director of Youth Policy, Community Service Society, takes an in-depth look at both the supply and demand dimensions of the job market faced by New York City’s 18- to 24-year-old young adult population. Barriers to Entry: The Increasing Challenges Faced by Young Adults in the New York City Labor Market looks at changes in the city's labor market over the past decade [...]

Different View of NY’s Inequality Numbers

March 11, 2013. A letter to the editor by James Parrott, Crain’s New York Business. Greg David's March 4 column (“Inequality debate doesn't reflect reality”) could have been titled “Economists agree NYC's inequality is very high and poverty is up; some think it's a problem.” Fiscal Policy Institute reports have documented this reality: The local economy has fared better than the nation overall in the recovery, yet inflation-adjusted median incomes here have plummeted by 8%, more than for the U.S. overall, and poverty has increased [...]

Briefing on Mayor Bloomberg’s Preliminary FY 2014 NYC Budget, and a Forward-Looking Budget Agenda

March 5, 2013. Part I of the budget briefing on Mayor Bloomberg’s Preliminary FY 2014 NYC Budget makes the following points: Unemployment remains very high in this historically weak “recovery.” NYC job growth better than the U.S., but considerable hardships persist. NYC tax revenues have rebounded, but federal and state aid share declined. State budget choices and pressures continue to squeeze NYC. City-funded expenditures projected to increase 3.4% in FY 2014, with increases in debt service and health insurance. Most agency budgets are cut. Over [...]

The NYC School Bus Workers’ Strike

February 8, 2013. One of New York City’s biggest challenges is providing a sufficient number of decent job opportunities to enable its citizens to provide for their families and offer hope of a better life for their children. The city’s pronounced income polarization is fundamentally rooted in the job market. Economic and labor market changes over the years have severely limited the availability of good jobs that provide reasonable health and retirement benefits. These changes, which threaten the survival of New York as a middle [...]

Brooklyn Labor Market Review – Winter 2012

December 20, 2012. Prepared by FPI  for the  Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the latest issue of the BLMR looks at Brooklyn's food chain including specialty food manufacturing, restaurants, and gourmet food stores. The report finds that when you look at the entire Brooklyn food chain—starting with food manufacturing and wholesale distribution, and including grocery stores, specialty food stores, restaurants and coffee shops—nearly 59,000 people are employed in 7,800 businesses. Thus, the food chain accounts for 16 percent of the 49,000 businesses in Brooklyn, and 12.5 percent of [...]

Deep in the trenches: understanding the dynamics of New York City’s front line workforce development staff

December 7, 2012. Recognition of the crucial role played by front line workforce development workers led Workforce Professionals Training Institute and the Fiscal Policy Institute to undertake a study of this profession in New York City. The objective was to analyze the current state of these jobs and the workers who hold them, with a particular emphasis on issues such as job satisfaction, training, and advancement opportunities, for the purpose of improving the quality of outcomes that workforce professionals are responsible for delivering. The report [...]

Go to Top