Compensation and employment trends in the private and public sectors diverged during the Great Recession. And while there has been belated retrenchment in government, the latest federal data indicate the private sector still has a lot of catching up to do in New York State, as shown in this chart.
As of the first quarter of this year, total employee compensation in New York’s state and local government sector was 9 percent above the level at the start of the recession, while employee compensation in the private sector remained slightly below the level in the fourth quarter of 2007, when the recession officially started. Compensation in New York’s private sector in the first quarter was nearly $22 billion lower than the peak recorded in the first quarter of 2008, while state and local employee compensation was $5.6 billion higher.
When second quarter data are released in September, they will probably show a further dip in state and local employee compensation (the red line), reflecting announced staff cuts and lower salary increases. The pace of growth in private-sector compensation (the blue line) during the same period will be a key indicator of the strength of the recovery in New York and the nation.
Nationally, state and local government employee compensation is up 6.4 since the fourth quarter, and private sector compensation is roughly equal with the end-of-2007 level.
You may also like
Hochul Shows a Jarring Lack of Direction on Health Care
Financing and regulating health care delivery is one of the biggest responsibilities of state government, yet Governor Hochul had remarkably little to say on that topic in her State of the State speech on Tuesday.
Read More
Hochul’s Pushing Affordability. It Would Cost A Lot.
Governor Hochul is hammering an “affordability” theme in the leadup to Tuesday's 2025 State of the State address. But her campaign, dubbed "Money In Your Pockets," has so far featured little that would reduce the cost of providing, and therefore buying, goods or services in New York.
Instead, the biggest announced and expected elements reflect Albany's waning interest in growing the state economy—and a greater appetite to redistribute what it produces. Read More
Unions Reprogram NYS To Do Less With More
Governor Hochul on Saturday signed an innocuous-sounding bill to “regulate the use of automated decision-making systems and artificial intelligence techniques by state agencies.” But the “Legislative Oversight of Automated Decision-making in Government,” or LOADinG Act, wasn’t about protecting New York from self-aware computers trying to wipe out humanity. Instead, it was an early Christmas present for the state's public employee unions—and a lump of coal for New Yorkers hoping for more efficient state government. Read More
Former Utility Regulator Warns State Lawmakers They’re On the Naughty List
A legislative hearing into spending by the state’s sprawling energy agency featured a surprise guest who offered sober warnings about Albany’s energy policy. Read More
New York’s Public Employee Shortage Is Over
Public employee unions complained loudly when New York's state government workforce shrank during the coronavirus pandemic, using that decrease as pretext to press Governor Hochul and state lawmakers for more hiring and costly giveaways to benefit their members. But the latest data show nearly every state agency has more employees than it did a year ago, and that by at least one key measure, the state workforce is larger than it was before COVID. Read More
Upstate Insurance Customers Pay the Price for Medicare’s Hospital Rate Hike
A billion-dollar Medicare windfall for upstate hospitals has turned into a crisis for upstate health insurers that's threatening to disrupt coverage for millions of New Yorkers.
The Read More
Hochul Wants To Spend The Same Billions Twice
Governor Hochul’s plan to mail $500 checks to millions of households has a problem: the sales tax “surplus” she wants to dish out doesn't exist. Read More
How Will A Major Milk Plant Fit Under NY’s Climate Limits? It Won’t.
Plans to build a milk-processing facility in Monroe County were announced last year to great fanfare but with few details on how such an energy-intensive operation could fit within Albany’s strict climate rules poised to hit homes and businesses. The answer: it won’t have to. Read More