Economic Trends & Policy

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|

Unemployment Insurance Taxes Paid for Undocumented Workers in NYS

May 14, 2020 In the midst of a pandemic, there has been a growing call for undocumented immigrants, who make up five percent of the New York State labor force, to be covered by some form of unemployment insurance. What is often overlooked in discussions of unemployment insurance is the extent to which undocumented immigrants are already part of paying into the existing system, even when they are excluded from collecting benefits. Undocumented immigrants face the same challenges as other workers. It does not serve [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:36-05:00May 13th, 2020|Blog, Healthcare, Labor Market & Workforce, Migration, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

New York’s Unemployment System Depends on Continued Federal Assistance

May 11, 2020 Following the Great Recession, New York's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund only achieved a positive fund balance for the first time in fiscal year 2016. On January 1, 2020, the balance stood at $2.65 billion, but the fund was nearing insolvency according to a report by the U.S. Department of Labor. Since the COVID-19 pandemic mitigation began eight weeks ago, over 1.7 million New York residents have filed for unemployment, which is roughly 5 percent of the nation’s total filings and represents more [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:37-05:00May 11th, 2020|Blog, Economic Outlook, Labor Market & Workforce, Must Read, Reports, Briefs and Presentations|

Undocumented and Unemployed

Orders for non-essential workers to stay at home and the ripple effects of the coronavirus have been felt throughout the New York economy. Over one million New Yorkers have filed for unemployment insurance since the middle of March when the coronavirus impact was first felt. Yet, one group is left behind by both the state’s existing unemployment insurance system and the federal government’s temporary enhancements to that system: undocumented immigrants. There are an estimated 530,000 undocumented immigrants in the New York State labor force. They [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:37-05:00April 20th, 2020|Blog, Migration, Must Read|

Press Release: Spotlight on New York’s Essential Workers

April 8, 2020 Overlooked, Underpaid and Indispensible Read the report: https://fiscalpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Essential-Workers-Brief-Final.pdf (Albany, NY) Today the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) released a new report spotlighting New York's essential workers who are on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the new analysis, there are 2.2 million “essential workers” in New York State. Twenty-two percent of these essential workers support their families on low incomes, with family incomes of less than 200 percent of the poverty level. Statement from David Dyssegaard Kallick, Deputy Director, Fiscal Policy Institute: “The pandemic has brought [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:37-05:00April 8th, 2020|Blog, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases|

Pay Your Way into the USA: DHS’s proposed fee increases create an immigration “wealth test”

Would you pass the federal administration’s wealth test? Here’s what you need to know and how you can help. The federal administration is trying to make it harder for people who are not affluent to enter the United States or obtain citizenship by instituting a “wealth test” to limit immigration. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to eliminate fee waivers for citizenship, lawful permanent residency, employment authorization, and many other applications to make it harder for immigrants who may work low-wage jobs to obtain [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:24:38-05:00December 16th, 2019|Blog, Migration|