New York Business Barometer
The State’s Business Barometer, the ICIE, declined at an annual rate of 3.6% since February. The index has declined 11 of the past 12 months and has fallen to its lowest level since January of 2006
For more information on the Index of Coincident Economic Indicators, click here.
For more on the ICEI Methodology, click here.
Unemployment Rates (NYS Department of Labor)
The State’s unemployment rate declined slightly from 8.4% in February before seasonal adjustment to 8.1% affected by seasonal hiring. A total of 20 counties have unemployment rates in excess of 10% and 13 equal or exceed the national unemployment rate of 9%, before seasonal adjustment.
For unemployment rates by county, click here.
For regional unemployment numbers, click here.
Consumer Price Index
The Consumer Price Index (CPIU) for the Northeast Region (Upstate New York) and the CPIU for New York Northern New Jersey rose 0.2% and 0.8% respectively, from a year ago with rising prices for food, education & communications and other services offsetting steep declines in gasoline prices.
For more on the Consumer Price Index, click here.
For CPI regional charts, click here.
Consumer Confidence
Consumer confidence decreased 1.1 points in March while the nation’s confidence level increased 1.0 point. Over 2/3 of New Yorkers indicated that they still expect hard times to persist for the foreseeable future.
For more information, click here.
| USA | NYS | Metro NYS | Upstate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall |
57.3 |
59.7 |
62.1 |
55.1 |
| Current | 63.3 |
58.8 |
57.6 |
61.0 |
| Future | 53.5 (3.0) |
60.3 (-2.2) |
65.0 (-2.6) |
65.0 (-1.7) |
Housing Prices and Activity (NYS Assn. of Realtors)
March home sales jumped 14.1 percent from last month and the statewide median sales price rose 6% for the month to reach its second highest level in the past 12 months. Overall sales decreased -25.3% from March of 2008 but prices increased by 10% from a year ago.
For more on the housing information, click here.
For housing information by county, click here.
| NYS | Jan 2009 to Feb 2009 | Feb 2008 to Feb 2009 | Feb 2007 to Feb 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales (%) | 14.1% |
-25.3% |
-46.1% |
| Median Price (%) | 6.0% |
10.0% |
-8.8% |
| Median Price | March 2009 |
March 2008 | March 2007 |
| Median Price | $222,500 |
$202,250 |
$244,056 |
Job Growth, according to NYS Department of Labor
Non-Farm jobs increased by 14,900 and private sector jobs increased by 12,800 since February due to increased seasonal hiring. Seasonal hiring was below the 10 year average for season hiring for March by 63% and 64% for non-farm and private sector jobs respectively.
For more on New York's employment numbers, click here.
For employment growth numbers by metro and non metro areas, click here.
| Non Farm Employment | USA | NYS |
|---|---|---|
March 2008 |
136,944 |
8,720.3 |
February 2009 |
132,130 |
8,539.5 |
March 2009 |
132,072 |
8,554.4 |
Monthly % Change (2/2009-3/2009) |
-0.4 |
0.2 |
Annual % Change (3/2008-3/2009) |
-3.6 |
-1.9 |
Private Sector Employment |
||
March 2008 |
114,104 |
7,200.5 |
February 2009 |
109,286 |
7,026.1 |
March 2009 |
109,147 |
7,038.9 |
Monthly % Change (2/2009-3/2009) |
-0.1 |
0.2 |
Annual % Change (3/2008-3/2009) |
-4.3 |
-2.2 |
WARN Notices, NYS Department of Labor
Employers with more than 50 workers must give employees 90 days notice of layoffs or closings.
For more on WARN notices, click here.
For detailed WARN notices, click here.
| WARN Notice Summary Economy Watch | Total WARN Notices | Jobs Affected |
| Oct 2008 | 20 | 3,362 |
| Nov 2008 | 22 | 3,261 |
| Dec 2008 | 50 | 6,253 |
| 4th Quarter 2008 | 92 | 12,876 |
| Jan 2009 | 63 | 4,690 |
| Feb 2009 | 45 | 6,741 |
| March 2009 | 64 | 5,148 |
| 1st Qtr 09 - Feb. 09 | 172 | 16,579 |
| April 2009 | 34 | 2,843 |
| 4th Qtr 08 - April 09 | 298 | 32,298 |
Empire State Manufacturing Survey (Federal Reserve)
General Business Conditions Index - the general business conditions index increased by almost 25 points in March marking a slowing rate of deterioration of economic conditions for manufactures.
Future Activity Index – the future activity index increased by almost 30 points to its highest level since August of 2008 as indexes for future orders, shipments, employment and work hours all increased significantly signaling continued cautious optimism for manufacturers about business conditions in the next 6 months
Supplemental Report – 80% of the manufacturers indicated that sales had fallen below “normal levels” with 62% citing declines of over 10% in business. Only 27% reported difficulty in obtaining credit for capital projects and only 20% cited difficulty in obtaining short-term borrowing for operating expenses.
For more on the Empire State Manufacturing Survey, click here.
