NYC'S ECONOMY SOARS,
BUT NATION'S GROWTH IS DIPPING
By PAUL THARP
January 31, 2004 -- America's economy is trudging along to better days, but the business pace in New York is showing spectacular gains.
Government reports yesterday said the U.S. expansion is on a slow track for a solid rebound, with the nation's gross domestic product growth advancing at a 4 percent rate.
Economist Donald Straszheim called the modest growth rate "respectable."
"The recession is long gone. The U.S. economy has absorbed the dislocations of 9/ll and will grow faster than most other industrialized nations by a wide margin," Straszheim said.
But data on the Big Apple's own economic recovery overshadowed the nation's fourth-quarter report.
The New York City area's business activity in December and January is soaring at record paces - good news for local retailers, restaurants and the real estate and entertainment industries.
Business expanded here in January to its second-fastest rate in a decade, while December's growth hit a record, according to the National Association of Purchasing Management New York's index of business activity.
The index, which measures economic health in surveys of the city's service industry and manufacturing, has expanded for the fifth consecutive month.
Meanwhile, another report yesterday on New York City's jobs said that 51 percent of executives plan to increase their hiring in the first quarter this year - reversing a trend of increasing layoffs here.
The jobs report in the New York Corporate Confidence Index also said executive confidence about the city's economy has soared in the past six months.
The national GDP pace of 4 percent for the fourth quarter cooled dramatically from the 8.2 percent growth in the third quarter, which was almost an overdose of rosy economics. That figure has been inflated by the White House's tax cuts, increased defense spending and a crush of home refinancing that gave a typical consumer as much an added $200 a month to spend.
BUT NATION'S GROWTH IS DIPPING
By PAUL THARP
January 31, 2004 -- America's economy is trudging along to better days, but the business pace in New York is showing spectacular gains.
Government reports yesterday said the U.S. expansion is on a slow track for a solid rebound, with the nation's gross domestic product growth advancing at a 4 percent rate.
Economist Donald Straszheim called the modest growth rate "respectable."
"The recession is long gone. The U.S. economy has absorbed the dislocations of 9/ll and will grow faster than most other industrialized nations by a wide margin," Straszheim said.
But data on the Big Apple's own economic recovery overshadowed the nation's fourth-quarter report.
The New York City area's business activity in December and January is soaring at record paces - good news for local retailers, restaurants and the real estate and entertainment industries.
Business expanded here in January to its second-fastest rate in a decade, while December's growth hit a record, according to the National Association of Purchasing Management New York's index of business activity.
The index, which measures economic health in surveys of the city's service industry and manufacturing, has expanded for the fifth consecutive month.
Meanwhile, another report yesterday on New York City's jobs said that 51 percent of executives plan to increase their hiring in the first quarter this year - reversing a trend of increasing layoffs here.
The jobs report in the New York Corporate Confidence Index also said executive confidence about the city's economy has soared in the past six months.
The national GDP pace of 4 percent for the fourth quarter cooled dramatically from the 8.2 percent growth in the third quarter, which was almost an overdose of rosy economics. That figure has been inflated by the White House's tax cuts, increased defense spending and a crush of home refinancing that gave a typical consumer as much an added $200 a month to spend.
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