Stringer: N.Y. City Economy Grew 3% in Q2

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New York City's economy grew more than 3% in the second quarter because of job growth and higher personal income, city Comptroller Scott Stringer said in Thursday's quarterly update on vital economic statistics.

According to Stringer, New York's real gross city product, or GCP, grew an estimated 3.1% and represented an estimated 4% of the nation's total economic output. The analysis summarized economic results for the second quarter, including such factors as GCP, job growth, income growth, unemployment rates and inflation.

"We must remember these are not the boom-town years of the late 1990s or of the credit bubble years," Stringer said in a statement. "There is mounting evidence that the national and local economics have settled into a prolonged period of steady but modest growth."

Total and private-sector jobs were up by 6.5% and 8.4%, respectively, since August 2008, the previous peak. Stringer said the most significant gains were in leisure and hospitality, education, and health services. The private sector added 22,400 jobs, according to the report.

"The city's economy is reliant on a volatile financial services sector, but it continues to diversify, and its finances will benefit," Moody's Investors Service said while affirming its Aa2 rating on the city's $900 million sale of general obligation bonds on Wednesday. Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's rate New York GOs AA. The city has roughly $42 billion in debt outstanding.

New York's unemployment rate stayed at 7.9%, though Stringer said the city's labor force rose by 37,100 in the second quarter, reflecting more people entering the labor force.

Personal income tax withheld was up 6.6% to about $1.6 billion, reflecting positive income trends, job growth, salary increases and late bonuses. General sales tax collections rose 5.2% to $1.7 billion, the report said.

According to Stringer, transit ridership remained steady, ridership fell 3.1% on buses and Long Island Rail Road ridership rose 4.3%. Manhattan apartment sales climbed 6.3% from the same period last year, up to 3,342. The Brooklyn housing market continued to fare well, he said, while the median sale price in Queens dipped 9%.

Manhattan hotel occupancy is 93.2%, the highest quarterly rate since records became available.

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