Middle Atlantic

Nov. 1, 2003
The worst of the recession may be over for New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but it will be a long, slow climb back to prosperity for this region.

The worst of the recession may be over for New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but it will be a long, slow climb back to prosperity for this region. At midyear, New York City had lost 98,100 jobs since June 2001 and was faced with an unemployment rate of 8 percent, according to a recent report published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Much of this economic devastation can be attributed to the 9-11 attacks, but the Big Apple's business services sector was already slipping before the WTC tragedy. However, jobs are coming back to Manhattan. American Express is moving 4,000 employees back into its World Financial Center building from Jersey City, N.J.

New Jersey's suburban office market is still reeling from cutbacks at high-tech firms like Lucent and AT&T and from consolidation at the headquarters of the state's many pharmaceutical companies. Metropolitan Philadelphia's diverse economy has weathered the storm better than other parts of this region.

ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS' SALES
(in millions of dollars)EW Estimates Final 1998 Final 1999 Final 2000 Final 2001 Forecast 2002 Forecast 2003Middle Atlantic 10,112.3 10,683.3 11,049.8 10,571.3 10,463.2 11,145.8New Jersey 2,775.0 2,962.9 3,064.6 2,931.9 2,901.9 3,091.2New York 4,087.0 4,418.6 4,570.2 4,372.3 4,327.6 4,609.9Pennsylvania 3,250.3 3,301.8 3,415.1 3,267.2 3,233.8 3,444.7EMPLOYMENT STATISTICSActual ECin thousands M F/S/RT GMiddle Atlantic 110,497 2,086.5 10,690.2 2,843.0New Jersey 26,609 427.0 2,309.1 615.9Atlantic-Cape May PMSA 1,227 5.5 143.6 31.8Bergen-Passaic PMSA 4,238 89.9 367.6 76.5Camden NA 50.5 291.4 84.8Jersey City PMSA 978 23.1 139.3 38.6Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon PMSA 4,136 89.8 376.3 86.2Monmouth-Ocean PMSA 3,156 18.2 266.6 70.2Newark PMSA 9,202 119.0 566.8 147.5Trenton PMSA 735 16.8 127.2 61.1Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton PMSA 331 10.9 26.4 15.0New York 53,638 805.2 5,111.9 1,501.1Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA 2,037 35.2 260.2 111.5Binghamton MSA 611 20.3 58.6 23.2Buffalo-Niagara Falls MSA 2,033 80.7 308.5 91.7Dutchess County PMSA 713 17.6 65.3 23.3Elmira MSA 226 7.6 22.0 7.6Glens Falls MSA 187 7.1 30.6 10.9Nassau-Suffolk PMSA 8,216 103.4 733.3 201.2New York PMSA NA 270.4 2,671.2 653.5New York City* 24,211 221.6 2,341.6 561.2Newburgh PMSA 1,005 11.3 74.0 30.4Rochester MSA 3,033 101.9 297.0 86.0Rockland County 1,155 11.6 62.7 20.9Syracuse MSA 1,443 44.8 185.1 64.8Utica-Rome MSA 417 17.7 76.1 28.7Westchester County 3,385 35.2 253.1 66.1Pennsylvania 30,444 854.3 3,269.2 726.0Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton MSA 2,209 52.1 162.2 32.6Altoona MSA 356 9.4 31.4 8.6Erie MSA 695 30.3 73.9 15.2Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle MSA 1,466 40.3 194.7 69.1Johnstown MSA 301 10.7 48.9 14.6Lancaster MSA 1,491 55.5 118.3 19.3Philadelphia PMSA 13,885 276.3 1,466.9 308.9Philadelphia County 1,062 50.9 446.8 119.3Pittsburgh MSA 6,690 132.8 692.1 124.0Reading MSA 1,138 39.5 88.1 19.9Scranton-Hazelton-Wilkes-Barre MSA 1,295 51.4 152.5 34.8Sharon MSA 222 10.4 27.8 5.9State College MSA 310 7.5 30.1 24.3Williamsport MSA 216 13.6 27.5 6.6York MSA 895 44.0 81.4 17.0* (Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens & Richmond Counties)