News

NYC Economic Development Agency – March 2005 Economic Snapshot

• Private employment decreased by 500 jobs in March, after a loss of 2,400 jobs in February. (Source: New York State Dept. of Labor.)
• The unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent in March from 6.1 percent in February. (Source: New York State Dept. of Labor.)
• The NYC hotel occupancy rate in March 2005 was 88 percent, compared to 83 percent in March 2004. (Source: PKF Consulting)
• The Direct Class A office vacancy rate was 7.0 percent in April, while the average asking rent was $48 per sq. ft. (Source: Cushman and Wakefield.)
• A cost of living index produced by Economy.com provides a measure that compares the costs of living across regions for given points in time. The NYC area’s cost of living is consistently high, but less that San Francisco’s. The difference between the two areas’ costs of living expanded between 1996 and 2003 (the most recent year for data), as the San Francisco area ranked the highest in cost of living for both years and experienced a more rapid increase.
• In February 2005, 7 million passengers flew into and out of the region’s airports, a 12 percent increase from February 2004 passenger levels. (Source: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.)
• Direct class A office vacancy in Midtown South decreased for the first time since March; at the same time, the area’s sublease vacancy rate continued it’s downwards trend, which began in October 2004. (Source: Cushman and Wakefield)
• Since January 2005, direct class A vacancy rates in Midtown have decreased, while average rents remained nearly unchanged. (Source: Cushman and Wakefield)
• Midtown Class A sublease space average rent has grown rapidly since January 2005, increasing by $6 over the last five months. (Source: Cushman and Wakefield)
• For the four months ending March 2005: There were roughly 604 building projects (including new, additions and alterations) that started construction in NYC, a decrease of 1 percent from the four months ending March 2004, and there were 32 infrastructure (non-building) projects, a decrease of 21 percentage from 2004. (Source: Dodge Analytics)