The worst of the recession may be over for New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but it will be a long, slow climb back to prosperity for this region. At midyear, New York City had lost 98,100 jobs since June 2001 and was faced with an unemployment rate of 8 percent, according to a recent report published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Much of this economic devastation can be attributed to the 9-11 attacks, but the Big Apple's business services sector was already slipping before the WTC tragedy. However, jobs are coming back to Manhattan. American Express is moving 4,000 employees back into its World Financial Center building from Jersey City, N.J.
New Jersey's suburban office market is still reeling from cutbacks at high-tech firms like Lucent and AT&T and from consolidation at the headquarters of the state's many pharmaceutical companies. Metropolitan Philadelphia's diverse economy has weathered the storm better than other parts of this region.
ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS' SALES (in millions of dollars)
EW Estimates
Final 1998
Final 1999
Final 2000
Final 2001
Forecast 2002
Forecast 2003
Middle Atlantic
10,112.3
10,683.3
11,049.8
10,571.3
10,463.2
11,145.8
New Jersey
2,775.0
2,962.9
3,064.6
2,931.9
2,901.9
3,091.2
New York
4,087.0
4,418.6
4,570.2
4,372.3
4,327.6
4,609.9
Pennsylvania
3,250.3
3,301.8
3,415.1
3,267.2
3,233.8
3,444.7
EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS
Actual EC
in thousands
M
F/S/RT
G
Middle Atlantic
110,497
2,086.5
10,690.2
2,843.0
New Jersey
26,609
427.0
2,309.1
615.9
Atlantic-Cape May PMSA
1,227
5.5
143.6
31.8
Bergen-Passaic PMSA
4,238
89.9
367.6
76.5
Camden
NA
50.5
291.4
84.8
Jersey City PMSA
978
23.1
139.3
38.6
Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon PMSA
4,136
89.8
376.3
86.2
Monmouth-Ocean PMSA
3,156
18.2
266.6
70.2
Newark PMSA
9,202
119.0
566.8
147.5
Trenton PMSA
735
16.8
127.2
61.1
Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton PMSA
331
10.9
26.4
15.0
New York
53,638
805.2
5,111.9
1,501.1
Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA
2,037
35.2
260.2
111.5
Binghamton MSA
611
20.3
58.6
23.2
Buffalo-Niagara Falls MSA
2,033
80.7
308.5
91.7
Dutchess County PMSA
713
17.6
65.3
23.3
Elmira MSA
226
7.6
22.0
7.6
Glens Falls MSA
187
7.1
30.6
10.9
Nassau-Suffolk PMSA
8,216
103.4
733.3
201.2
New York PMSA
NA
270.4
2,671.2
653.5
New York City*
24,211
221.6
2,341.6
561.2
Newburgh PMSA
1,005
11.3
74.0
30.4
Rochester MSA
3,033
101.9
297.0
86.0
Rockland County
1,155
11.6
62.7
20.9
Syracuse MSA
1,443
44.8
185.1
64.8
Utica-Rome MSA
417
17.7
76.1
28.7
Westchester County
3,385
35.2
253.1
66.1
Pennsylvania
30,444
854.3
3,269.2
726.0
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton MSA
2,209
52.1
162.2
32.6
Altoona MSA
356
9.4
31.4
8.6
Erie MSA
695
30.3
73.9
15.2
Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle MSA
1,466
40.3
194.7
69.1
Johnstown MSA
301
10.7
48.9
14.6
Lancaster MSA
1,491
55.5
118.3
19.3
Philadelphia PMSA
13,885
276.3
1,466.9
308.9
Philadelphia County
1,062
50.9
446.8
119.3
Pittsburgh MSA
6,690
132.8
692.1
124.0
Reading MSA
1,138
39.5
88.1
19.9
Scranton-Hazelton-Wilkes-Barre MSA
1,295
51.4
152.5
34.8
Sharon MSA
222
10.4
27.8
5.9
State College MSA
310
7.5
30.1
24.3
Williamsport MSA
216
13.6
27.5
6.6
York MSA
895
44.0
81.4
17.0
* (Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens & Richmond Counties)
