New York City’s economic growth outpaced the nation's in the second quarter, according to a report from Comptroller Scott Stringer.
The New York’s gross city product grew 3.4% in the second quarter compared to the 2.1% rise in U.S. gross domestic product, according to the report released Thursday.
The comptroller’s
The city’s second quarter growth came after seeing a 3.1% expansion in the first quarter, matching U.S. GDP growth.
The city’s economic growth in the second quarter was fueled by a strong labor market and strong wage growth as measured by average hourly earnings, the report said.
The banking sector continued to perform strongly in revenues and profits, aided by lower corporate tax rates and deregulation. Net income after taxes for the top six banks in the U.S. rose to over $32.6 billion in the second quarter, the highest level on record. While pretax net income of these banks rose 4.2%, the taxes paid by the top six U.S. banks fell 14.5% from the previous year due to the lower federal corporate income tax rate enacted in 2017.
The city’s job growth also surged in the second quarter. Employers added 27,200 jobs, an increase of 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted annualized rate basis. Job growth in the U.S. slowed to 1.2% in the second quarter, the weakest gain since the third quarter of 2012.
The city’s private sector added 26,200 jobs, or 2.6%, in the second quarter. The public sector added 900 jobs after adding 800 jobs in the first quarter. Nationally, private sector employment grew 1.3% in the second quarter, the slowest growth since a 1.2% gain in the third quarter of 2010.
Employment in the financial activities sector declined for the third consecutive quarter, shedding 100 jobs after losing a total of 4,300 jobs in the previous two quarters.
“The financial services sector is an important sector in the city and recent job losses are concerning,” the report said.
The city’s unemployment rate inched higher despite the increase in the number of jobs added.
After reaching a record low of 4.0% in the fourth quarter of 2018, the city’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in the second quarter from 4.2% in the first quarter. The reason was an increase in the number of unemployed in the city.
Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in the second quarter, the lowest rate since the fourth quarter of 1969.
The city is one of the largest issuers of municipal debt in the United States. As of March 31, the city had nearly $38 billion of general obligation (Aa1/A/A) debt outstanding. That's not counting the various city authorities that issue debt.
