Newly released Census Bureau data on the nation’s declining uninsured rate held good news and bad news for New York. Read More
Research
The recent announcement that Dick’s Sporting Goods will build a 650,000-square-foot distribution center in Binghamton has been cited by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as further evidence of an economic resurgence in the region. “Five years ago, we had a 7.9 percent unemployment rate in the Southern Tier,” Cuomo said. “Today, 4.6 percent. The arrows are headed in the right direction.” In fact, as shown in the state Labor Department’s household survey data, the unemployment rate dropped only because fewer residents of the region are available and looking for work. If the labor force were still at its 2010 level, the unemployment rate would be 13 percent. Read More
Here’s another reason to celebrate New York’s Earned Income Tax Credit: It measurably improves the health and longevity of those who receive it. Read More
The 2015-16 edition of What They Make, the Empire Center’s annual report on public payrolls, New York taxpayers to compare this key element of local government costs around the state. Read More
Republicans never held more than 58 of the 150 seats in New York State Assembly during Clarence D. “Rapp” Rappleyea’s 12 years as their minority leader. Yet Rappleyea, who died Sunday at age 82, was among the most consequential New York State legislative leaders of the 20th century. Read More
Governor Cuomo frequently asserts that "the arrows are pointed in the right direction" for the upstate New York economy, thanks to state policy changes under his leadership. But approaching the sixth Labor Day of Cuomo's tenure, the latest job statistics continued to tell a different story. Read More
The Empire State's largest public pension plan still has not fully recovered from the financial crisis and Great Recession of 2008-09, a new report from the state comptroller's office confirms. Read More
The latest Affordable Care Act enrollment figures for New York reveal a troubling trend: Free and nearly free government-funded programs are crowding out private-sector plans in the state’s health insurance marketplace. Read More
How is New York’s health insurance market weathering the Affordable Care Act crosswinds? Relatively well in some respects and poorly in others. Read More
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. Read More
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s new Clean Energy Standard is shaping up to be one of the largest tax hikes in state history. Read More
At the mid-summer mark, the private sector in upstate New York was still struggling to produce net employment gains, according to the state Labor Department's latest monthly report. Read More