Reports

Six months into the COVID-19 recession, New Yorkers working in lower-paid sectors continue to suffer a disproportionate share of job losses statewide and especially in New York City.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the New York State and Local Retirement System (the System or NYSLRS) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.

This report on the use of overtime by New York State agencies examines patterns over the past ten calendar years. The total cost of overtime in calendar year 2019 was over $806 million, covering roughly 18.4 million overtime hours worked.

The 2019-20 fiscal year brought the convergence of two dramatically different periods to New York State. The nation’s longest recorded economic expansion continued to generate overall job growth through most of the fiscal year before finally ending in February, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced severe limits on business activity and significantly impacted the State’s economy.

While New York State has regained more than one in four of the jobs it lost in March and April, the unprecedented scale of losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic leaves a daunting path ahead for the State to climb back to pre-recession employment levels. For New York City, the picture is even more troubling.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.

New York State’s total employment count hit an all-time high of more than 9.8 million in February, reflecting net gains of nearly 2 million jobs since April 1996. 

Nearly three-quarters of New York State small businesses received assistance in recent months through the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to Census Bureau survey data for the week ending June 27.

Approved payments to New York recipients for Unemployment Insurance totaled $32.1 billion from March 1 through July 17, with steep increases in payments following the onset of the pandemic.

As was widely reported, New York’s unemployment rate has soared upward in recent months, with May's 14.5 percent nearly four times the 3.7 percent in February. But that rate is only one measure of the impact of lost jobs.

New York State has experienced difficult budgets many times over its history. Seldom if ever, however, has the State faced the level of economic and revenue challenges identified in this year’s Enacted Budget Financial Plan as a consequence of the COVID19 pandemic.

New York State is facing extraordinary challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Its punishing impacts include shutting down much of the economy, throwing millions of Americans out of work, and devastating State finances.

The New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP), administered by the State Department of Civil Service (Civil Service), is one of the nation's largest public sector health insurance programs. NYSHIP covers over 1.2 million active and retired State, local government, and school district employees, and their dependents. The Empire Plan is the primary health benefits plan for NYSHIP, covering 1.1 million of the NYSHIP members.

Every year, certain issues emerge as particular challenges in the State Budget. Clearly, among the most difficult this year is the structural budgetary imbalance in the State’s Medicaid program.

New York’s Alexander Hamilton played a central role among our nation’s Founders, as the Broadway musical bearing his name reminds us. One of the questions Hamilton analyzed as he sought to build support for a stronger central government was the potential for “inequality among the States” in paying federal taxes. Well over two centuries later, that issue remains a national concern.

Data Visualization | Excel file with supporting data

The national economy has now been growing for more than a decade – a lengthy expansion, by historical standards. While we have no way of knowing exactly when that will change, we can be sure that at some point a downturn will come. When that happens, the State must be prepared to safeguard essential services and avoid undesirable tax increases.

This Report on Estimated Receipts and Disbursements for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2019-20 through SFY 2021-22, issued pursuant to Section 23 of the State Finance Law, is intended to enhance analysis and discussion of the State’s economic condition and the State Budget.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the New York State and Local Retirement System (the System or NYSLRS) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.

New York continues to benefit from a national economic expansion that has lasted for more than a decade, however, economic risks are growing. This report can help New Yorkers better understand the State’s financial and economic condition.

The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the State of New York for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.