A lot can change in the course of three months.
New findings from a study conducted by the Brookings Institution have found that all upstate cities, including the Capital Region, have been less adversely affected by the recession than other regions of the country.
The Brookings MetroMonitor project tracks local economic data quarterly across the country. The study released today puts the Capital Region in the top 20 metro areas in terms of fourth quarter economic growth. The region did not make the top 20 list in the third quarter of 2009.
Even though the numbers are not all good they are better when compared to the data for the rest of the country. The Capital Regions unemployment rate increased 1.1% over a one year period to a 7% rate while the national average increase of 2.5% puts the rest of the country at 9.7%.
The Capital Region has also remained exceptionally strong against succumbing to the foreclosure crisis. Albany homes ranked second to Syracuse in terms of having the lowest foreclosure numbers.
According to Howard Wial, one of the authors of the study and a fellow at the Brookings, Albany and other upstate cities have seen benefits due to their lack of ties to the floundering auto industry. In addition Albany is unique because it is the Capital of the state and has a bustling state government.
Kajal Lahiri, a professor of economics at the University of Albany believes that upstate cities have been able to weather the recession better than other parts of the country in part because of a surge in small business growth, especially high-tech startups.
In addition small upstate community banks have remained vital due to the fact that they knew where the money they lent was going. Although the region has fared better than other areas, the business community feels that leaders need to do a better job at making the state more business friendly.
According to Brian Sampson, executive director of Unshackle Upstate, which represents 45,000 businesses, New York didn't experience the economic boom as acutely as other states, so the bust was not as severe.
However he cautions that with the loss of thousands of jobs over the last several years the state has been forced to raise taxes, resulting in a more difficult business climate. According to Sampson "That is why we continually call on our elected officials to cut state spending and programs so that they are consistent with the needs of the taxpayers".
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