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In August 2020, the number of private sector jobs in New York State increased over the month by 96,300, or 1.4%, to 7,198,600, according to preliminary figures released today by the New York State Department of Labor. This represents the fourth straight month of job gains for the Empire State. New York’s private sector job count outpaced the nation’s private sector job growth — 0.9% in August 2020 — for the third month in a row. New York total unemployment also drops to 12.5% from the original 19.9% in the early days of the pandemic. Following current trends, it seems that we will continue to decrease in the following months.
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Governor Cuomo first announced a State moratorium on residential and commercial evictions on March 20 to ensure no tenant was evicted during the height of the public health emergency. The commercial eviction and foreclosure moratorium was extended through August 20 and later through September 20 by Executive Order, and the Governor signed the Tenant Safe Harbor Act on June 30 which became effective immediately and additional legislation to provide financial assistance to residential renters and homeowners which has extended the moratorium for those tenants until the Emergency has expired. Governor Cuomo also has provided additional protections for residential renters from charges for late payment of rent and allowed tenants to use security deposits to pay rent for residential tenants by Executive Order.
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The delinquency rate on bank’s commercial real estate loans is at its highest point since 2015. The overall delinquency rate on bank CRE loans rose to 0.59 percent at the end of the second quarter, up 65 percent from the prior quarter, according to a report from Trepp. The delinquency rate on smaller bank CRE loans is also noticeably higher than that of large loans, the report finds, which “supports the narrative that smaller businesses are being more directly impacted by the pandemic related economic shutdown.”
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A whopping 87% of restaurants did not pay full rent last month, according to a report Monday from the New York City Hospitality Alliance. “We urgently need rent relief,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the alliance. “Restaurants, bars and nightlife venues have been financially devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic.” Although there has been some wins, City council enacting caps to fees charged by third party delivery apps and the ability for 25% capacity of indoor seating. But this is not nearly enough to keep many of them afloat.