Observer » Unemployment Rate

No Time for a Raise

The Editors — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:28:17 -0400

New York’s economy may be on firmer ground than, say, Michigan’s, but that’s not saying much. Statewide, the unemployment rate of 8.5 percent is nearly a half-point higher than the national jobless rate. In New York City, the unemployment rate is about 9.5 percent.

So now is not the time for politicians to pass an election-year increase in the state’s minimum wage, currently set at $7.25 an hour. Hikes in the minimum wage invariably lead to fewer new entry-level jobs, and that’s something the city and state can ill afford.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the other day that while he supports a minimum-wage increase, such a measure would never get through the Republican-controlled state Senate. So, in essence, the governor seems prepared to throw in the towel on this issue, even though he is under tremendous pressure from his fellow Democrats and various advocacy groups to force the issue.

Mr. Cuomo is right about the politics: Republicans in the Senate surely would kill a proposed increase to $8.50 an hour. But he should also make it clear that the issue of timing involves more than politics. It’s simply common sense.

Economic policy in 2012 should have one and only one outcome in mind: job creation. Raising the minimum wage would have precisely the opposite effect, as study after study has shown. In better times, like the mid-1990s, increases in the minimum wage have been implemented without destroying entry-level jobs. But those increases were approved when the creative engines of capitalism were running on full throttle.

Today, the engines continue to sputter. An increase in the minimum wage very likely would lead to a stall, which would help nobody.

The Cuomo administration has put into place several policies aimed at encouraging job growth. A new tax credit is available to companies that hire young males who have suffered through long-term unemployment. A new low-income housing program has the doubly beneficial effect of creating construction jobs while offering the poor better housing choices.

Those are precisely the kinds of economic development programs that lead to long-term benefits for the poor.

But in an election year, Democrats in the Legislature would prefer to appease politically powerful special interests with support for a minimum-wage hike. It is to Mr. Cuomo’s credit that he seems determined to resist the temptation, regardless of his reasons.

Friday Morning Roundup: How Many Jobs Did We Lose in August?

Mike Taylor — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:52:17 -0400

• At 8:30 a.m., the Department of Labor tells us just how many jobs we as a nation lost in August. The folks on Wall Street expect America to have lost somewhere around 100,000 jobs, marking a third straight month of labor-market shrinkage. [Calculated Risk]

• Companies that make ATMs and otherwise provide financial infrastructure to banks (and bodegas) could be attractive targets for private equity buyouts. [Reuters]

• Harrisburg, Penn., edged closer to bankruptcy Thursday by warning that, even after looking under the sofa cushions, it couldn't find the money to pay back $3.3 million in general obligation bonds. [DealBook]

• BP is saying that the Gulf oil spill has so far cost it $8 billion, and that oil hasn't leaked out of the offending Macondo well since July 15. [WSJ]

• In an economy that simply refuses to grow fast enough, employers are reducing the range of benefits they offer and transferring more costs onto employees. That's too bad for employees, because health care costs keep rising. [Washington Post]

Expectations Be Damned! City Joblessness Flat

Oliver Haydock — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:29:13 -0400

So much for that narrative! Counter to the stories upon stories of an economy in freefall, people are still working; at least they are according to October jobs statistics released today by the New York State Department of Labor.

Unemployment actually fell, albeit marginally, in New York State, dropping from 5.6 percent in September to 5.5 percent in October, while it remained unchanged in New York City at 5.7 percent (the national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent). The point is, it’s not climbing, and that seems weird, considering all that’s happened in the past month and a half.

Unemployment rates stayed flat across the five boroughs, changing only slightly in Manhattan and Queens and holding firm in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island. At 7.7 percent unemployment, the Bronx still leads the five boroughs in joblessness. Manhattan had the lowest unemployment rate at 5 percent, followed by Queens and Staten Island at 5.1 percent, and Brooklyn at 6.2 percent.

While the month-to-month figures are steady, the unemployment rate has increased substantially since last year. The state unemployment rate was up 1.1 percentage points from last year in October, and the city rate has climbed by 0.5 percentage points. If the city sheds financial sector jobs in the coming months, as many expect, it will be worth watching if local unemployment hits 10 percent, something that hasn’t happened since March of 1997, when the unemployment rate was 10.2 percent.

Grubb & Ellis: We Have Highest Unemployment Rate Since ’94

Dana Rubinstein — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:08:01 -0400

Exhausted by the reams of negative prognostications? At least this one, care of Grubb & Ellis, is delightfully brief.

In a one-paragraph downer, Grubb & Ellis chief economist Robert Bach tells us that the economy is in the pits, and it should only get worse. Enjoy!

The labor market has deteriorated sharply in the past three months. The October unemployment rate hit 6.5 percent, the highest since February 1994, while employers have shed nearly 1.2 million payroll jobs this year, more than half of them coming in August, September and October. Total job losses may approach the 2.7 million total recorded during and after the 2001 recession, while the unemployment rate could exceed 7.8 percent, the peak registered in June 1992 following the 1990-91 recession. Expect commercial real estate leasing market fundamentals to soften through 2009.