Economy Watch to Improve Economic Development in NYS

As State Lawmakers return to Albany this week for Governor David Paterson’s “State of the State” Address marking the start of a Legislative Session that will be dominated by economic news, today the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) released its own version of the economic “State of the State” in a report aimed at arming government officials with a centralized set of local-based economic data.

The report, called Economy Watch, includes a range of economic indicators not currently available in one place. The one page document will be sent monthly to county and state leaders, with more detailed supporting data available from the official NYSAC website at www.nysac.org.

“The state of our current economy is floundering and foreboding,” said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario. “End of year layoff announcements indicate New York will lose more than 12,000 in the first three months of 2009. These are not just statistics on a chart. These job losses affect families, and have a real and direct impact to our state and local economies. Clearly, state and local leaders must ramp up efforts to retain and attract jobs to New York.”

Today’s edition features the latest reported data, including full month numbers from November 2008 and layoff announcements through December 31, 2008.

“There are more than a dozen groups in New York State tracking economic statistics. To assist county government leaders involved in these decisions statewide, NYSAC is bringing important economic data together with local analysis. This will enable more informed decisions to be made in communities across the state,” said NYSAC President Sarah Purdy, the Yates County Administrator.

“What we gather out of this report is that the state has lost more than 41,000 private sector jobs from a year ago. This is an alarm that must be heeded,” said Purdy.

NYSAC’s Economy Watch will be updated monthly and include a range of data including business cycle indicators, the consumer price index, job growth and layoff numbers, consumer and business confidence indicators, as well as local housing prices and sales activity.

“There is no denying that the national and state economic recession has hit New York State,  and county leaders recognize that most critical component of a successful recovery is to foster job growth,” said Acquario. “The one bright spot is that New York’s housing prices have remained stable over the past year and have not mirrored the drastic decline in sales prices experienced on a national level.”