Category Archives: Economy

Good News for NY Economy

Economy, ,

new yorkStatistics for the economy in America looked good at the end of September. According to chief United States economist at High Frequency Economics, Jim O’Sullivan, “The overall labor market continues to improve, with domestic strength offsetting foreign weakness.” There has been solid consumer spending, home sales have remained steady and businesses have been doing okay. In addition, according to Automatic Data Processing (ADP) a further 200,000 jobs were added (with 35,000 of these being from the construction industry, which was the highest number in that field in 9 years).

All of these numbers are indications that America’s economy could currently be experiencing a boom.   However there are still some weak areas. There was a cut in manufacturing jobs of 15,000 (which was the highest number in five years). In addition there has been a drop in jobs in the oil and gas drilling industry, in conjunction with the drop in oil prices.

And of course the increase in jobs has resulted in a boost to the housing market which new home sales being at a seven year high. It is all a domino effect as more homebuilding has been encouraged which is why there are more jobs in construction!

Getting New York Youth to Work

Economy,

youth-workingThe Center for Youth Employment was recently launched by Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray. It was established in order to set up 100,000 young New Yorkers to summer jobs, internships and mentorships by the year 2020. Financing came from the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City.
The aim of this organization is “to create a new youth workforce infrastructure – one that works for all our children,” according to McCray. It is hoped that this will ultimately lead to the breaking of the poverty cycle that usually begins with young people in need from the moment they are born. With top jobs or internships they could change their lives and prevent history from repeating itself.

For this to actualize it will require the cooperation of the government and private sector working together. Already in 2015, there was a substantial increase in the number of jobs created from last year – up 1,073, putting a total of 2,073 New York youth to work.

Small Business Pulse

Economy, , ,

small-businessSmall Business Pulse was recently launched by CBS in an effort to “give small businesses a helping hand.” On the platform will be tips on all the attributes associated with business including HR, finance, legal system, marketing, sales and technology. Discussions will take place digitally on how to establish a more efficient work environment, enhancing online branding, the management of mobile payments.

The reason this was set up was, according to Chief Marketing Office of CBS Altitude Group’s Rich Lobel, was because for a long time it was felt that small businesses required more help.   This idea was emphasized by President of CBS Local Digital Media, Ezra Kucharz who pointed out: “If small-business owners can see great content from business leaders that have been successful, they’ll learn how to do things they might be struggling with right now.”

The longer term plan for Small Business Pulse is, over the next year to offer “seminars, business breakfasts and social-media summits.”

What is good news as well for small business owners, is that, according to Chris Guillebeau, author of ‘The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future,’ starting a small business has “never been easier.” This is mainly due to the fact that people are very comfortable making purchases online. Rather than having a lot of money initially to start a business, Guillebeau suggests “sweat equity – taking the time to make something meaningful” is more of a necessity.

 

 

 

 

 

NYC: The Price of Food, Glorious Food

Economy, ,

foodWhen Stop & Shop and Giant join up with the Food Lion parent company, a $29 billion grocer will be established. This will give the stores a far greater leverage vis-à-vis competing with food discount retailers like Wal-Mart, since it will become America’s fourth largest grocer.

The hope is that this would make the consumer happy. Which comes at a great time given that Whole Foods supermarkets have been accused of overcharging their customers by selling prepackaged meat, dairy and baked goods.   Indeed, according to Julie Menin, Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner, there was a fraudulent mark up of $14.94 on coconut shrimp, with chicken tenders being marked up by $4.85.

So the question is, will this mean that the newly established grocery store will help the consumer’s pocket at the end of the day? In some ways yes, but when it comes to fast-food restaurants, possibly not. Given that there is a strong likelihood that New York will be increasing minimum wage to $15 an hour, a staggering 72 percent of restaurant owners said that they would “very likely” increase food prices to the customer to counter this. A further 18 percent said they would be “somewhat likely” to follow suit.

So with some prices increasing and others decreasing, New Yorkers might ultimately be left in the same boat at the end of the day.

 

NYC Banning Personal Cars?

Economy, ,

carsNew York City has always had too many cars. Getting around the city is a problem. Uber and other such companies have recently been created to try to counter the issue on some level (and as a business venture).

In more recent news, NYC took another step toward the goal of clearing up the city’s car overload at both West Drive of Prospect Park and Central Park North of 72nd Street. West Drive will become car free July 6, 2015 and in two days from now Central Park will no longer allow cars.

This is great for the environment and also for those who just want a nice walk in the park. Given that housing in NYC typically does not cater for those with kids who want to run around in their gardens, it is really important that public parks do. Therefore some of the arguments are that NYC should be banning personal vehicles from not just parks but from the entire city. This of course, will take a lot more persuasion and work, but for now, it’s a good start.

New York Business Law: An End to Discrimination?

Economy,

chrysler-buildingThe New York City Council just passed a law forbidding private sector employers from asking job applicants if they have been convicted of a crime via the Fair Chance Act. While this has been supported by the Mayor, businesses are less than enthusiastic. The Partnership for New York said the bill favors “ideology over practicality.”

Meanwhile, the New York job market is actually thriving. According to numbers from the State Department of Labor, the state increased its private sector jobs by 126,200 from April 2014 to April 2015. It hasn’t affected the overall unemployment rate, during the same time frame which is at its lowest since 2008.

Still, the question is, who in New York is actually taking these jobs, and, perhaps more worryingly, who is not getting the jobs? Is this to do with discrimination?   Really one could argue that the additional jobs in the New York state area are more connected to a stabilizing economy as opposed to fairer equal opportunities.

There again if one is looking for a job, there might still be a vacancy left by Foster Huntington who quit his job in New York in the fashion industry to go live in a childhood fantasy-tree house, on land his real estate parents had bought years ago.

And for those who are really prepared to work and don’t mind what they do, perhaps they should look into a job in the fast food industry, where the number of workers increased 87% between 2010 and 2014.

There’s always work to be had, if someone wants it bad enough. It’s unclear if this law is necessary.

New York Disses Nuisance Fees

Economy,

feesIn an attempt to encourage businessmen in the capital, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently signed a repeal to rid the state of what has been termed “nuisance fees.” This forms part of the state budget package.

According to Cuomo what this will result in is an “eliminate[ion of] unnecessary costs and paperwork, helping to allow these businesses to reinvest and grow in New York.”

The eliminated fees generate approximately $3million revenue, and have been imposed on 300,000 individuals and entities in the state of New York.

Adjusting the Balance

Economy, ,

constructionIt seems that there is a disproportionate amount of African-Americans in construction jobs in New York. At least according to Greg David’s study, ‘Blacks missing out on construction jobs,’ which found that while a quarter of the city’s population is African-American, only 13 percent of them are employed in the field of construction. Further, there is only 33 percent of African-Americans holding one of the 8,000 unionized construction-industry apprentice jobs.

David also noted that there is a higher proportion of Latinos in construction jobs that are non-union which thus offer no health benefits, safety training or pensions, etc. The report thus recommended that NYC Mayor finds a way to increase the amount of union construction jobs as well as minority-youth access via pre-apprentice jobs.

With this in mind, the Construction Skills Program was set up, giving city high school graduates priority for apprentice programs. Forty-eight percent of NYC apprentice participants are African-American and 40 percent, Latino or Asian.

It has been called “the best pre-apprentice program in the nation,” by a study undertaken by researchers from Columbia University.

New York Job Report: Looking Good?

Economy,

employmentLast month a New York report indicated that there was a drop in unemployment to 5.5 percent. In addition, 295,000 jobs were added.

While this is great news, it must be noted that the labor market is still not in as great a shape as it should be. For example, wages have not been increasing. If the job market was stronger this would not be the cases. But throughout the six years that the market has been in recovery, there has hardly been any wage increase.

Thus experts are hoping that the Fed will hold off until wages are running alongside inflation and productivity and meanwhile, use its regulatory powers to ensure low interest rate credit is actually put to productive, practical use. Congress also needs to play a part.