MOUNT VERNON

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The Facts About New York ’s 10-year Economic Performance

By Robert Ward

Director of Research at The Business Council’s research affiliate, The Public Policy Institute.

It’s a recession, Ronald Reagan used to say, when your neighbor can’t find a job–and a depression when you can’t find one yourself.

The presidential candidates are debating whether the national jobs picture is still cloudy or becoming sunny. But one thing is clear: You’ve got more reason to worry if you live in New York .

From 1993 through2003, New York ’s private-sector employment rose 8.9 percent. That sounds okay–but the nation grew 16.5 percent. We trailed 40 of the other 49 states. And last year, when private employment was flat nationwide, New York lost 41,000 jobs.

Data newly complied by The Public Policy Institute compare our jobs record to other states’. The key finding: We’re near the back of the pack in virtually every sector of the economy.

Financial services. In New York City alone, this sector employs 430,000 people in well-paid jobs that, in turn, support hundreds of thousands of other jobs throughout the economy. These jobs generate billions of tax dollars to jobs generate billions of tax dollars to support schools, hospitals, and other public services statewide. Yet we’ve been losing these vital jobs to other states at an alarming rate: Over the past 10 years, financial-sector employment statewide dropped by 4.1 percent–while rising 17 present nationwide.

Manufacturing. Over 10 years ending in December 2003, New York ranked 46^th in this sector. We lost 27 percent of our manufacturing jobs–almost twice the national drop.

Construction. We added jobs during the 1990s, but other states gained more. The advantage is to residents in other states–or to New Yorkers willing to move to pursue opportunity.

Information. In this sector, which includes TV networks, magazines, telecommunications companies, software manufacturers, Internet providers, movie makers, and data processing companies, jobs nationally grew 18 percent in the 10-year period.

Where has New York added jobs? In sectors funded by taxpayer dollars. But jobs in health care and social assistance generally don’t create or import wealth. They tend to consume it–through taxes, health-insurance premiums, and other means.

To add jobs, New York must cut taxes, shrink other job-creation costs, and streamline regulations. We did that in the 1990s, and it worked. We can do it again.