According to numerous accounts, the Great Recession has left many recent college graduates struggling to find jobs that utilize their education. However, a look at the data on the employment outcomes for recent graduates over the past two decades suggests that such difficulties are not a new...

Since the 1980s, employment opportunities in both the United States and the New York–northern New Jersey region have become increasingly polarized. While technological advances and globalization have created new jobs for workers at the high end of the skill spectrum and largely spared the...

In recent years, students have been paying more to attend college and earning less upon graduation—trends that have led many observers to question whether a college education remains a good investment. However, an analysis of the economic returns to college since the 1970s demonstrates that...

Business surveys often give early signals of the direction and magnitude of economic activity. One release, the relatively new Empire State Manufacturing Survey, is demonstrating an ability to provide information ahead of U.S. production and employment trends. In fact, the predictive power of...

Newly available measures of GDP at the metropolitan area level now afford a more comprehensive view of regional economic activity. An analysis of upstate New York's economic performance using these measures points to below-average output growth between 2001 and 2006 along with productivity...

We track the business cycles for New York State and for major upstate metropolitan areas over the last quarter century and compare them with the national cycles. To date the regional cycles, we use a new methodology that combines several data series into a single composite measure - or index -...

We use newly available data from the 2000 census to assess the occupational composition of the upstate New York workforce and to analyze how it has changed since the 1990 census. We also compare the evolving mix of occupations in our region with that of the nation as a whole, an approach that...

We describe the medical manufacturing industry generally and examine the industry's presence in upstate New York and its metropolitan areas. We show that upstate has a considerable employment concentration in the manufacture of both medical devices and pharmaceuticals. This activity is...

We explore the distinctive patterns of Buffalo and Rochester's economic restructuring in detail. We compare the board structural changes in Buffalo's economy with those in Rochester's, and the changes in both metropolitan economies with those in the national economy. We also seek to understand...

In the wake of the most recent U.S. recession, both New York State and New Jersey have faced multibillion-dollar budget gaps. An analysis of the makeup of their budgets reveals that the states' heavy reliance on personal income taxes--particularly from high-wage earners in the finance...