Westchester County has one of the highest concentrations of financial services professionals, according to a recent report by the research arm of the Business Council of New York State.
The Public Policy Institute of New York State Inc. also ranked New York City and Nassau, Erie and Suffolk counties as having the highest concentrations of financial service workers.
In sum, the sector is the largest single contributor to the state economy.
In 2008, about $187.2 billion was generated by the sector, the last complete year for which figures are available.
That”™s 14 percent of New York”™s $1.145 trillion economic output, the report indicated.
New York financial and accounting firms hired approximately 10,200 college graduates from state colleges and universities in 2008.
More than a half-million workers work in a direct capacity for the sector in the state; about 1.6 million are dependent on the financial services industry to sustain their jobs.
The report noted that 20 percent of New York state”™s tax revenues are generated by the sector, with about 15 percent respectively in New York City.
However, since the start of 2007, the report stated some $3.33 billion in new taxes and fees have been levied annually by New York state on the financial services sector.
In a response to the survey findings, Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State said, “many New York legislators and advocates seem intent on punishing the financial services industry with higher taxes and costly new regulations. But to do so puts thousands of jobs and New York”™s most important industry at risk.”
Regionally speaking, the Public Policy Institute found that neighboring New Jersey experienced an uptick in sector jobs during the financial downturn in 2000.
New York state had seen a drop in financial industry employment with an estimated loss of 45,000 jobs from 2000 to 2003; about 49,000 jobs were lost in New York City.
However, New Jersey”™s employment numbers for the sector grew by 7,000.
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Gross State Product percentage for 6 sectors in 2008
Real Estate: 13 percent
Construction: 3 percent
Manufacturing: 5 percent
Professional and technical services: 8 percent
Health care: 6 percent
Financial services: 14 percent
All others: 51 percent
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Public Policy Institute of New York State; 2008 was the last year for which data were available.
