The Great Recession Lingers in New York City and its Neighborhoods
September 15, 2010. Economic overview and outlook for New York City - a presentation by FPI's deputy director and chief economist, James Parrott. Presentation >>
State of Working New York 2010: New York starting to see job growth but not yet recovery
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 earning less. Both groups are [...]
New York City Immigrants in the Great Recession
August 2, 2010. How are immigrants faring in the economic downturn? Data released by FPI shows that immigrants, who make up nearly half of the New York City labor force, have an unemployment rate that is slightly lower than for U.S.-born workers. First, immigration is sensitive to labor market demand, so when there are fewer jobs, immigration slows. Second, lacking a safety net, immigrants are more likely to work at whatever jobs they can get. U.S.-born workers may have the resources to search longer for [...]
The Self Sufficiency Standard for New York
June 29, 2010. As New York recovers from the current recession, long-term economic prosperity will require responsible planning that puts all New Yorkers on the path to self-sufficiency. What does it take to make ends meet in New York without public or private assistance? How can we measure income adequacy? The Self-Sufficiency Standard published here answers these questions, using the best tools available to set out practical levels of economic security for New York families and individuals. The Self-Sufficiency Standard defines the income needed to [...]
An Overview of Job Quality and Discretionary Economic Development Subsidies in New York City
May 28, 2010. This brief from FPI together with Good Jobs New York and the National Employment Law Project examines the low wages typically paid for many of the permanent jobs at city-subsidized economic development projects such as Bronx Gateway Mall, Fresh Direct and Yankee Stadium.
New York City: Economic and Budget Challenges
May 20, 2010. While Wall Street may have recovered, the average New York worker is still mired in the Great Recession. New York like most states has severe budget problems and not enough Federal aid; moreover, state and local government budget cuts will harm the local economy and slow the national recovery. In this context, the Mayor's NYC budget proposal punishes workers and the poor but does not ask the well-off or Wall Street to share the burden. This presentation includes commentary on the state as [...]
Extending the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund Would Bring More Dollars and Jobs to New York
May 19, 2010. To help needy families during the Great Recession, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, created a $5 billion Emergency Contingency Fund (ECF) within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) federal block grant program. This brief shows that the TANF ECF has brought $935 million in new federal dollars to New York over the last year. With the nation continuing to experience high unemployment rates, an extension of the [...]
Is the recession over in New York?
May 10, 2010. Despite the fact that job numbers are up, unemployment is down, and gross domestic product has increased for three quarters - by the measures that matter, this recession has been worse for New York workers. Wages fell more sharply in this recession than in the two previous. Joblessness has more than doubled. At this point, 400,000 jobs are needed to return NYC unemployment to pre-recession levels. Also see Severe Recession Hangs on in Much of the City in Gotham Gazette's Economy section. [...]
New York Has the Ways and Means: How and Why Wall Street Should Give Back to Main Street
April 19, 2010. This new report details how a temporary bonus tax and other Wall Street measures could ease New York's budget crisis and fund property tax relief for the most burdened households. Sensible options for closing the state budget gap meet three goals: Support rather than undermine the needs of New York families. Minimize the negative impact of this year’s budget decisions on the fragile state economy. Require the New York financial industry - which bears responsibility for much of the negative impact on [...]
Across the Spectrum: The Wide Range of Jobs Immigrants Do
April 15, 2010. Immigrants are by no means all low-wage workers in the 25 largest metropolitan areas, as this new report shows. In many metro areas, there are more higher-skilled immigrants than there are lower-skilled. Surprisingly, these are not the metro areas with the most economic growth; rather, they are areas with low overall immigration, including Pittsburgh, Detroit, and St. Louis. This is a companion report to Immigrants and the Economy, published November 2009.
Establishing a Fair, Adequate and Economically Sensible State-Local Tax System
April 7, 2010. This policy brief from FPI reviews specific revenue raising options that would enable New York to close its budget gap while making the overall tax system fairer and minimizing damage to the economy. The brief was released as the Better Choice Budget Campaign announced a statewide TV ad campaign to raise awareness of opportunities to raise revenues in ways that minimize damage to the state's fragile economy - including closing corporate tax loopholes and asking Wall Street to help bail out Main [...]
The New York State Lottery: A Regressive Tax
March 29, 2010. Voluntary payments to the government are generally not thought of as taxes. But states have begun in the last 30 years to obtain significant revenue from lottery sales. Looking at induced lottery purchases as a tax, with very little direct or indirect benefit to the vast majority of purchasers, this analysis confirms conclusions in other studies that it is an extremely regressive tax. By FPI research associate Brent Kramer, published by Tax Analysts in State Tax Notes.
New York’s Unemployment Crisis
March 10, 2010. An update from the Fiscal Policy Institute: In January 2010, 852,000 New Yorkers were unemployed, including 413,000 New York City residents. This fact sheet includes data on New York unemployment rates and payroll job losses, including FPI estimates of unemployment by gender, race, and ethnicity, and long-term unemployment.
Balancing the New York State Budget in an Economically Sensible Manner
March 10, 2010. New York State should balance its budget during the current economic downturn in ways that will not make economic conditions worse. The budget balancing strategies of the early 1990s should be avoided, while those of 2003 and 2009 demonstrate the benefits of more balanced approaches to budget balancing. The wisest policy choices are those that will take the least amount of demand possible out of the state economy; this brief contains a number of specific options.
Revenue-raising and cost-saving options
February 22, 2010. The Fiscal Policy Institute worked with the other members of the Better Choice Budget Campaign to develop a menu of revenue-raising and cost-saving options for consideration by the Governor and Legislature as they work to adopt a balanced budget for 2010-2011. The chart of options was distributed at a press conference today at which advocates urged the governor and legislature to make "better choices" to balance the state budget - calling for more federal aid, and for Wall Street to help Main Street. FPI, New Yorkers [...]