Economic Report of the Hudson Valley

Since the end of the Great Recession in June of 2009, GDP has grown slightly less than 2.00 percent per year: high enough to maintain the current level of joblessness, but not of sufficient magnitude to provide full employment. Continued contraction in public-sector spending and employment is adding to this weakness as is the household sector’s unwillingness to forego saving and/or incur debt to support current consumption. There are pockets of growth in both the national and regional economies and the housing sector has begun to build a sustainable bottom. However, overall economic activity will not fully recover until the average household witnesses sustained income growth.

Region-wide, employment and labor-force participation peaked in July of 2008— seven months after the start of the Great Recession—at 1,128,500 and 1,189,500, respectively. Employment reached a post-recession low in February of 2012 at 1,024,400 while the labor force bottomed out a year later (February of 2011) at 1,112,000. From peak to trough, labor-force participation fell 6.52 percent (77,500) and employment contracted 9.22 percent (104,100). As of January 2013, the region has recaptured 13.29 percent (10,300) of the labor force lost to the recession and 4.03 percent (4,200) of the employment. The Capital Region reported similar results, recapturing 18.40 percent of the labor force lost and 4.69 percent of the employment, while the Long Island Region fared much better with a labor force and employment recaptured rate of 51.37 percent and labor 32.24 percent, respectively. Within the region, the Lower Hudson Valley has recaptured 13.71 percent (7,100) of its labor force and 3.55 percent (2,300) of all jobs lost while the Upper Hudson Valley has recaptured 12.06 percent (3,100) and 4.83 percent (1,900), respectively.