NYC economy shows signs of slowdown despite record-setting employment

New York City’s financial indicators show that the city’s economy may be cooling despite a record number of employed citizens and a growth in private-sector payroll jobs.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer released his quarterly economic update, which reviewed a range of data to illustrate the state of the local economy, and it revealed that the beginning of 2016 brought mixed results.

“The city’s job market was a bright spot in the first few months of 2016 as more New Yorkers joined the workforce, but there are signs of a slowdown on the horizon,” Stringer was quoted in a statement.

Specifically, a record-setting 4 million New Yorkers are employed, an increase of 21,200 people during the first quarter, the report stated. That gain shows that the city’s economy was growing at 3.4 percent, far above the national economy’s growth of .5 percent during the same time.

The negative side of such growth, though, was that nearly half of those new jobs were in low-wage industries, where real wages have decreased 3.2 percent between 2009 and 2014, according to the comptroller’s report.

“Too many of the jobs we’re gaining are in low-wage industries,” Stringer stated. “When New Yorkers work full time and still can’t afford a decent living, it undermines our entire economy.”

The economic update analyzed other data from the first quarter of 2016 that showed trouble could be on the horizon for the city’s economy, according to Stringer. Venture capital investment in the New York area fell 6.2 percent, personal income fell .3 percent and new commercial leasing activity in Manhattan fell 6 percent.

“A strong city economy and job gains are always welcome news, but stagnant wages, a potential cool off in the commercial real estate market and slowing venture capital investment are causes for concern,” Stringer said.