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Ive’s arrival is almost certain, and New York is showing the pattern of other major cities in the United States, that is, the gap between rich and poor is getting bigger and bigger. During Covid, the wealthy performed very well because the rescue rescued companies and further pushed up stock prices and housing. As explained in this article, the Covid recovery is expanding this trend.

By Greg Davis.Originally published on City on November 18, 2021

New York City’s economy recovered in October Vaccination rate The decline in the number of infections triggered a wave of recruitment.

Nonetheless, the new data still highlights the city’s deep-rooted inequality-despite the Biden administration’s efforts to pass a social spending bill to help the less affluent residents of New York, and the mayor-elect Eric Adams promised Solve the problem of inequality.

The city added 83,500 jobs in October, the largest increase since the beginning of the 2020 pandemic recession recovery. The growth rate reached 2%, twice the national growth rate.

This marks the first time in months that the city’s job creation has surpassed the rest of the country.

The unemployment rate in Hong Kong dropped slightly from 9.8% recorded in September to 9.4%. Although still much higher than the national level, the number of unemployed urban residents has fallen for nine consecutive months.

“The infection rate in New York City declined from mid-September to the end of October,” said New School economist James Parrott. “As the virus infection rate rises, work will rebound in the opposite direction.”

Almost every major sector has shown employment growth, with private colleges and universities, business services, healthcare, and the arts as the top.

A particularly important sign: In the past two months, nurseries have added nearly 7,000 jobs. As schools resume face-to-face learning, many economists believe that the lack of affordable and adequate childcare services prevents many parents, especially women, from rejoining the workforce.

Before the economically crucial holiday – this is the first holiday since the vaccine is widely available – and the critical year that will bring a new mayoral government and a fierce governor campaign, there are encouraging signs on the cusp of the storm. Employment figures.

One percent of people thrive

However, the new report shows that New York is still one of the most unequal cities in the United States.

Data shows that in 2019, the top 1% of taxpayers in New York City accounted for about 35% of the city’s taxable income. Independent Budget Office Update every year.

Approximately 55% of taxpayers have incomes of less than $40,000, accounting for less than 10% of all taxable income in the city.

All signs indicate that the gap between the rich and the poor has widened rapidly during the pandemic—probably comparable to 2007, when 1% of income accounted for more than 45% of all income. That year was also a year when the stock market boomed and Wall Street issued huge bonuses. Since March 2020, the benchmark S&P 500 index has soared by 75%, and the Nasdaq index, which is dominated by technology stocks, has doubled. The top 1% of wages earn less than 40% of their income, most of which comes from the proceeds of stocks and bonds, as well as dividends from stocks and private companies.

Wall Street This year’s profits may hit a record high, Next year’s bonus is expected to soar Securities companies 25% to 30%, According to compensation consultant Johnson Associates.

According to statistics, the average bonus reached US$175,000 last year. A report From the State Auditor General Thomas DiNapoli (Thomas DiNapoli). The average salary is over 420,000 USD.

City University of New York focuses on inequality

At the same time, the in-depth study of the students of the City University of New York Federal Reserve Bank of New York Shows how difficult it is for black and Hispanic New Yorkers to obtain financial gains even in an institution widely touted as a pathway to the middle class.

According to this study, black students are more likely than white students to take on debts and default on student loans, while lagging behind in completing their degrees.

Consumer debt data shows that black and Hispanic graduates of the City University of New York are less likely to buy a house or car and have less credit card debt. Their delinquency rate is also higher than that of white alumni of the City University of New York.

In addition to racial differences, women at the City University of New York perform better than men at school, but this does not translate into more spending power.

“You can see a lot of gender and racial inequality in the data,” said Rajashri Chakrabarti, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “Inequality exists in both household debt and arrears. Inequality in education is an important factor in racial inequality. For gender inequality, structural factors also play a role.”

‘Great equalizer’

Representative D-The Bronx said that although the city and state governments have limited ability to influence the trend of rising inequality in New York, the Biden administration’s troubled $1.7 trillion social expenditure bill will greatly help the city’s poor residents. .

City Councillor Ritchie Torres (D-The Bronx) attended the hearing at City Hall on January 24, 2019.
Rep. Rich Torres (D-The Bronx) Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY
He believes that, in particular, there are two regulations that will have a significant impact on the city:

Expanding home care for the elderly and raising the wages of home care workers will both improve the financial situation of the elderly — and the financial situation of women of color who mainly provide nursing care while earning poor wages.

Doubling the refundable child tax credits to become permanent will basically provide social security for families with children and lift these families out of poverty.

“This is a great equalizer,” Torres said.

He added that although it has been downplayed, imposing the global minimum tax on companies and funding the IRS to actively enforce tax laws also means that companies and the wealthy will pay their due share.

At the same time, Adams promised to resolve inequality by effectively fighting the new crown virus and investing in infrastructure, vocational training, helping companies in trouble, and encouraging new industries to relocate to the city.

“The new employment data is a good sign that our city is ready to rebound, but we still have work to do to ensure that our return is fair and sustainable, and give priority to those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and historical inequality. People,” he said in a statement to the city.

This story was originally published on city, An independent non-profit news organization dedicated to hard-line reporting that serves the people of New York.