In a further sign of the Empire State’s weak recovery from the pandemic-induced recession of 2020, personal income in New York bounced back more slowly than the national average during the first quarter of this year, according to data released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
On an annualized basis (i.e., the rate of change that would have occurred had the pattern been repeated over four quarters), personal income in New York from January through March was up 51.9 percent from the ultra-low level reflecting the state’s broad economic and social shutdown starting a year earlier, the BEA estimated. By comparison, the 50-state change in personal income in the first quarter was 59.7 percent.
In both cases, nearly all of the income gain (91 percent in New York; 93 percent nationally) was categorized as transfer receipts to individuals, reflecting “new government pandemic relief payments provided by the [federal] Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act,” the BEA noted. The rest of the increase would have flowed through personal earnings from employment, dividends, interest and rent.
In 50-state rankings of first-quarter income growth, New York ranked a mediocre 42nd, as illustrated below.
Last week, the state Labor Department released data showing the state’s recovery of private-sector payroll jobs as of May was also far behind the national average, increasing at a pace that won’t produce a full jobs recovery (to February 2020 level) until 2025.
About the Author
You may also like
While New York’s Medicaid Budget Soared, Public Health Funding Languished
Four years after a devastating pandemic, the state has made no major investment to repair or improve its public health defenses.
While funding for Medicaid over the past four years Read More
New Jersey’s Pandemic Report Shines Harsh Light on a New York Scandal
A recently published independent review of New Jersey's pandemic response holds lessons for New York on at least two levels.
First, it marked the only serious attempt by any state t Read More
DeRosa Is Still Hiding the Truth About Cuomo’s Pandemic Response
As the long-time top aide to former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Melissa DeRosa ought to have useful information to share about the state's pandemic response – especially about what went wrong and how the state could be better Read More
Emails Confirm That Cuomo’s Staff Launched Its ‘Book’ Project in March 2020
A pair of state-employed writers began researching, outlining and drafting a book about Governor Andrew Cuomo's pandemic response in late March 2020, weeks before New York's harrowing first wave had passed, according to newly disclosed email records. Read More
The Health Department Releases a Fuller Accounting of COVID’s Deadly First Year
The state Health Department has belatedly published a more complete COVID death count for the pandemic's first year, accounting for more than 6,000 victims who were left out of the state's previous tallies because they died Read More
Emails show Cuomo’s staff working on his memoir at the peak of New York’s pandemic
Newly available records shed further light on the origins of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pandemic memoir, which won him a $5.1 million publishing contract before contributing to his political downfall.
The records reveal that his government staff were a Read More
The AG’s Nursing Home Lawsuit Scratches the Surface of Widespread Issues
The attorney general's just-filed lawsuit against the Villages of Orleans nursing home has implications that reach far beyond a single facility in western New York.
In addition to c Read More
A SUNY Pandemic Study Is Marred by Errors and Inconsistencies
A pandemic-related study recently published by the state University at Albany's School of Public Health is marred by factual errors, inconsistencies and methodological issues that raise doubts about its findings – and questions about the process by which it was reviewed. Read More