DiNapoli: Wall Street Lags NYC Job Growth

NEW YORK CITY-The largest US city may have excelled the country as a whole in adding post-recession jobs, but the city's highest-paying employment sector, financial services, hasn't kept pace, the state comptroller said Wednesday. A report by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli noted that the Bloomberg administration's four-year financial plan assumes continued economic growth, but at a slower pace than in recent years.

“Since the economic recovery began in 2009, the city has added jobs at a much faster pace than the nation and has regained nearly twice as many jobs as were lost during the recession,” DiNapoli wrote in his report. “About two-thirds of the new jobs, however, have been in sectors that pay less than the citywide average salary.”

In contrast to previous economic recoveries, wrote DiNapoli, “the securities industry has not significantly contributed to the city's job gains,” representing less than 2% of private-sector job creation since the recession ended. Strong profits notwithstanding, the industry has regained only 19.5% of the jobs it lost during the recession.

Last year, Wall Street earned $23.9 billion from its broker/dealer operations, making 2012 among the most profitable years on record, according to DiNapoli. The Street got off to “another strong start in 2013, with first-quarter profits of $6.6 billion—half of the city's forecast for the entire year. However, industry profitability has been volatile in recent years as the industry works through the fallout from the financial crisis. Regulatory reforms and the European sovereign debt crisis could also hold down profitability in subsequent quarters.”

The comptroller's report notes that New York City's real estate market continues to improve, “especially for commercial and large residential properties such as apartment buildings, cooperatives and condominiums.” DiNapoli reported that the Bloomberg administration's four-year forecast assumes that real property tax collections will be nearly $3 billion for the period higher than was forecast a year ago.