DiNapoli confirms: upstate sluggish by E.J. McMahon | | NY Torch

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has just issued a report confirming what employment statistics have been showing: upstate New York's economy has lagged behind the nation and downstate regions for years now.

Cuomo’s Southern Tier hype by E.J. McMahon | | NY Torch

For several years now, Governor Andrew Cuomo has been misusing employment statistics to back up claims that his policies have ignited an economic resurgence in upstate New York.

It happened yet again today, when the governor was in Binghamton to announce that Dick's Sporting Goods had decided to locate a 650,000 square foot distribution center in the Broome County Corporate Park.

NY economy stagnated at end of 2015 by E.J. McMahon | | NY Torch

Zero.

That was the seasonally adjusted annual rate of growth in New York State's economic output during the fourth quarter of 2015, according to preliminary Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data released today.

NY job growth slows down sharply by E.J. McMahon | | NY Torch

Statewide private sector employment in New York as of December was up just 1 percent over the same month a year earlier—less than half the national rate, and the lowest such growth rate in New York since the end of the recession in 2009, according to revised employment data released last week by the state Labor Department (DOL). The total year-to-year gain of just 76,500 private jobs was less than half the average recorded in each of the four previous Decembers since Governor Andrew Cuomo took office.

State-backed batteries out of juice by Ken Girardin | | NY Torch

One of New York State's highly touted high-tech "investments" just shorted out.

General Electric announced today it is pulling the plug on its Durathon battery project, which is manufactured by a Schenectady-based subsidiary, GEMx Technologies. The project, which for a time employed more than 350 people, was awarded $12.5 million in "JOBS Now" capital funding from the state Empire State Development Corp. in 2013.

How “North NY” would stack up by E.J. McMahon | | NY Torch

If the New York counties north of the New York City metro region were to split off and become a separate state, how would it rank nationally?

The question is prompted by news accounts of last weekend's Southern Tier rally by a coalition of groups whose members want upstate to secede from the rest of New York. Not all the advocates favor creation of a separate state, however. Some favor absorption into Pennsylvania, while others suggest avoiding the constitutional hurdles of full statehood by changing New York's own constitution to create two "autonomous regions" within the outline of a "token" remaining single state. In addition, their definitions of "upstate" seem to differ.

NY economy grew faster in 2014 by E.J. McMahon | | NY Torch

On the surface, today's newly released state Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers for 2014 amount to an unalloyed good-news story for New York State. Preliminary data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis show the state's real GDP grew slightly faster than the national average in 2014, rebounding from a weak 2013.

However, a closer look at the data reveals stagnation last year in New York's manufacturing sector, offset by a heavy reliance on finance and other industries located mainly in New York City.
However, the new data also reflect a continuing decline in New York's manufacturing sector, offset by a heavy reliance on finance and other sectors located mainly in New York City.
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