Economic Trends & Policy

NYC Labor Market Took a Hard, Sustained Hit from the Pandemic

New York City Residents were hit harder and longer by the pandemic than those in the rest of the state. While both the city and the state have shown job gains since May 2020, the rebound has been modest. The road to recovery is long. Looking at the Employment to Population ratio (EPOP), we can see both are doing worse than during the Great Recession when the New York state EPOP never dropped below 57.7 percent and averaged 59.3 percent over the whole period. The [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:25-04:00November 10th, 2020|Blog, Economic Outlook|

The HEROES Act Should Include Undocumented Taxpayers

Across the United States, undocumented immigrants and their families are still experiencing eviction, food insecurity, hunger, and financial difficulties due to COVID-19. Federal relief has continuously excluded this population of immigrants from income replacement assistance, stimulus payments, and unemployment insurance, which has exacerbated the adverse economic effects on undocumented families. Earlier this year, the federal government passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to provide financial relief to families who were impacted by COVID-19. Sadly, undocumented immigrants and their families were [...]

Cyierra Roldan2024-12-18T12:24:34-05:00October 26th, 2020|Blog, Migration|

New York Helps Pave the Way: NY’s Immigrant Inclusive Policies

In localities and states across the U.S., advocates and legislators have been working together to invest in the collective health and well-being of immigrants. This year’s Policy wins have been significant as advocates, and legislators continued to fight back against federal attacks on immigrants, and COVID-19 exposed the already persistent racial disparities. A recent report from the National Immigration Law Center that outlines policy victories in the United States highlighted New York’s commitment to immigrants. Despite the lack of federal leadership in response to [...]

Cyierra Roldan2024-12-18T12:24:34-05:00October 26th, 2020|Blog, Migration|

Medicaid Cuts Would Put 554,000 Essential Workers in New York at Risk

October 14, 2020 Many of New York’s “essential workers,” people working in jobs deemed necessary throughout the COVID pandemic, rely on Medicaid for their own health care. They risk severe hardship if federal policymakers fail to provide appropriate increases in Medicaid funding or weaken protections for program enrollees, according to a new analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In New York State over half a million, 554,000, essential workers rely on Medicaid. The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic led to a [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:25-04:00October 14th, 2020|Blog, Healthcare, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Pandemic Economics Demand A Diverse Response

October 14, 2020 In light of New Jersey's adoption of a millionaires tax to help fill a statewide revenue hole caused by the coronavirus, many asked what about New York? Like New Jersey, New York was hard hit by the pandemic, and its economy continues to suffer. Like New Jersey, New York has historic fiscal problems with a budget shortage of $14.5 billion this year, and in the tens of billions of dollars over the next several years. Like New Jersey, we continue to wait on the federal government [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:26-04:00October 14th, 2020|Economic Outlook, Press Releases, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Congress Must Agree on COVID Relief Package in the Next Week

The coronavirus pandemic has hurt us all. It has harmed our physical and mental health and economic well-being. As of September 24, 2020, COVID-19 has sickened over 7.2 million Americans and killed more than 207,000. The pandemic has harmed our economy, causing large-scale business shutdowns, which were ordered to protect public health. Tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs and incomes because of the pandemic, resulting in record-high unemployment rates and a rising need for services in New York State and beyond. Initially, job [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:26-04:00September 28th, 2020|Blog, Labor Market & Workforce|

Over 40% of New Yorkers Uncounted as Feds Call for Early Halt to 2020 Census

8/4/2020 On Monday, August 3, 2020, the Census Bureau issued a statement, confirming reports that it plans for all 2020 census counting efforts to be cut four weeks short of what was expected. This is the federal administration’s latest attempt to inject an element of chaos and intimidation into what should be a unifying and democratic process. In April, the Census Bureau asked all households to respond to its 10-question survey either online or by mail. For those who did not respond, there has been [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:27-04:00August 7th, 2020|Blog, Economic Outlook|

New York Must Act Now to Support Excluded Workers

Workers and families left without support for months Read the full report: Unemployment Compensation for Excluded Workers: Helping New Yorkers, Boosting the Local Economy (Albany, NY) State unemployment benefits were expanded in significant ways for most New Yorkers who lost their jobs during the pandemic. However, tens of thousands of New York workers and their families were left adrift without federal or state assistance. The Fiscal Policy Institute’s new report shows that our state can act to create and fund a system to support these workers. [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:27-04:00July 30th, 2020|Economic Outlook, Migration, Press Releases|

Second Round of Economic Impact Payments Needed

Millions of New Yorkers remain unemployed due to COVID-19. With federal assistance set to end in July, the situation is dire as these payments were used to cover basic essentials for workers and their families - and those who were excluded from CARES Act support and state unemployment assistance continue to struggle. The facts are stark. "Over 9.3 million New Yorkers—48 percent of the state’s population—received Economic Impact Payments (EIP) totaling over $15 billion by May 22, 2020. Undocumented immigrants, as well as married couples [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:27-04:00July 27th, 2020|Blog, Economic Outlook|

Memo of Support: The Billionaire Mark-to-Market Tax Act

The Fiscal Policy Institute strongly supports the Billionaire Mark-to-Market Tax Act (S8277/A10414) that is expected to raise additional revenue for New York State to be used for multiple purposes, including supporting a fund that would provide weekly financial assistance to workers otherwise excluded from New York State Unemployment Insurance. Download the PDF.

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:27-04:00July 22nd, 2020|Letters, Migration, Tax Policy|

Unemployed Workers Set to Lose Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation

Unemployed New Yorkers are scheduled to receive their final Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) checks on July 26, 2020. FPUC was enacted as part of the CARES Act and the legislation set FPUC’s expiration for the end of July. The unemployment insurance (UI) expansions included in the CARES Act were quick and appropriate responses to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The expansions were intended to help tens of millions of workers across the nation who were laid off due to mandatory business shutdowns [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:35-05:00July 20th, 2020|Blog, Labor Market & Workforce, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

New York State Unemployment Fact Sheet for June

New York State’s average unemployment rate for April and May 2020 stood at 14.9 percent. For the same time period last year, the average unemployment rate was 3.8 percent. In the 12 weeks between March 10 and May 30, 2020, New York State processed over 2.4 million unemployment claims, which is more than 12 percent of the state’s population. Unemployment claims have slowed in recent weeks, but many New Yorkers remain unemployed. As of June 13, the five most racially and ethnically diverse industries have also [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:36-05:00June 15th, 2020|Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce|

The Fiscal Policy Institute’s Three-Point Plan for Re-Building New York

May 27, 2020. The Fiscal Policy Institute today warned state legislators and the governor that New York’s financial and social woes will only worsen if they attempt to return to an austerity budget model. The pandemic's public health crisis and subsequent economic downturn deepened an existing budget shortfall and with the deficit projected to be at least $13 billion, the state faces an extraordinary fiscal challenge. There is no simple solution to this crisis which will require bold innovation from our state leadership. Read the Policy Paper: Minimizing Risks While Maximizing Our State's Potential [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:36-05:00June 15th, 2020|Blog, Economic Outlook, Must Read|

New York’s Public Sector Workforce Threatened by Lack of Federal Aid

New York’s public sector workforce is comprised of many of our state’s essential workers: nurses, teachers, firefighters, personal care aides, childcare workers, and more. In total, 24 major occupational groups – defined as having 10,000 or more workers – are part of the sector. A recent economic news release from BLS indicates that over 100,000 public sector workers in New York were laid off from their jobs between February and May of 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and declining state revenues. Characteristics of New [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:36-05:00June 13th, 2020|Blog, Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce|

NYS Unemployment Factsheet for April

New York State’s April 2020 unemployment rate stood at 14.5 percent – up from 4.1 percent in March -and was the state’s largest recorded monthly increase since 1976 when the current record-keeping began. In the seven weeks between March 10 and April 25, 2020, New York State processed over 1.5 million initial unemployment insurance claims from residents, which represents more people than the entire population of the state of Maine. Look for more monthly factsheets covering unemployment in New York State. Read the factsheet here.

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:36-05:00June 13th, 2020|Fact Sheets, Labor Market & Workforce|