DiNapoli: “growing and expanding”
KINGSTON – New York is in good shape, economically speaking, although it could be doing better, says the state’s top money manager. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli delivered a snapshot of New York’s fiscal picture in Kingston Wednesday, during a speech at the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce.
“There’s no doubt when you look at the various indicators, our economy nationally continues to be in recovery, and here in New York State as well, it’s growing and expanding,” DiNapoli said.
In March, New York’s unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, down from a high of 9.6 percent back in January 2010. Ulster County’s March comparison is slightly better at 5.2 percent, DiNapoli said. This reflects a statewide re-growth of 625,000 private sector jobs over the past five years, he added, “Many more than were lost in the depths of the recession.” On Wednesday, the state Labor Department released April figures, which look even more encouraging.
DiNapoli said the March numbers are quite lopsided regionally. A total of 81 percent of the new jobs were created downstate, in the five boroughs of New York and Long Island.
“When you get north of New York City, we still see great struggles out there.”
The Mid-Hudson region lost 12,000 positions during the recession, and only recovered three-quarters since 2010, although at a greater pace over the past two years. Other regions are still losing jobs, DiNapoli said, especially in the public sector due to budgetary contractions — 72,000 statewide.
“We see some weakness in sales tax collection; not sure why.” DiNapoli indicated. 2013-2014 sales tax revenues increased three percent, slower than the four percent to five percent of previous years.
Housing market is on the upswing, but DiNapoli warned that housing affordability continues to be a problem.
Ulster County came in third to last place for renters, with 55.1 percent of households paying more than 30 percent of their income, after Greene and Bronx counties. It’s very clear that for those households where they are paying more than half of their income for a place to live, you are going to be stretched in terms of that household budget for other everyday purchases or those longer term investments that we hope people are able to save for – retirement, education for young people in the family.”
Wall Street brings in 19 percent of state revenues, with $16 billion in profits, slightly down from the year before.
“What we’ve seen is that there are fewer jobs in financial services; these firms have been staying profitable by shedding head count with fewer employees,” DiNapoli said.
The securities industry is currently 11 percent smaller than it was before the global financial crisis.
Better budgeting and well-funded pension funds contribute to overall health, DiNapoli said. “The state is in its strongest financial and budget condition than it’s been in many years,” he said. Debt remains a problem though, with $7 billion added this year.
A windfall of $7 billion from rogue bank settlements should be earmarked for infrastructure, DiNapoli suggested. “A big chunk went to the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement,” he noted. “The reality is we’re an old state with infrastructure that’s been deteriorating for too long.”
