For example, Etsy, the popular e-commerce website, which in many ways resembles a retail company, relies on technology to underpin its business model. But it’s not just New York City that is growing nicely. Employment levels on Long Island and in parts of upstate New York—most notably the Albany, Buffalo and Rochester metro areas—have also climbed and are at or near record highs. During my recent trip to upstate New York, I saw first-hand some of the positive developments in Rochester and Buffalo. After undergoing a prolonged period of economic transformation and reinvention, Rochester’s economy is now more diverse and dynamic than ever before. Meanwhile, the growth in Buffalo was striking. The numbers show a dramatic uptick in construction 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  employment, and the visual evidence of development was widespread. I was especially impressed with the downtown and waterfront areas, as well as the new SolarCity factory—all of which looked dramatically different than when I visited the area less than two years ago. Both of these places are well positioned for future success. On the other hand, the employment recovery has been slow to take hold in both Northern New Jersey and the Lower Hudson Valley, where jobs are still not back to their pre-recession peak despite employment growing steadily. For Northern New Jersey, this lag is due, in part, to a stall in the growth of jobs in professional and business services. But the education and health sectors continue to add jobs, and construction employment is seeing a rebound.
William C Dudley: The regional economic outlook Remarks by Mr William C Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Economic Press Briefing, New York City, 26 August 2015. *  *  *  Good morning and welcome to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Economic Press Briefing. I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak with you today about economic conditions in our District. As always, what I have to say reflects my own views and not those of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) or the Federal Reserve System. Tracking economic conditions in our region is an important part of our work here at the New York Fed. We need to understand how the diverse economies in our District are performing—from the metropolis of New York City and its surrounding areas, to rural communities in upstate New York and the tropical island of Puerto Rico. I take all of this to the table when the FOMC discusses business and economic conditions and trends. In addition, we provide our regional analysis to the public so that everyone can benefit from our work. At today’s briefing, we will share some of this work with you. As president of the New York Fed, I believe it is essential to listen firsthand to a broad set of businesses and people in the communities we serve to get as comprehensive a picture as possible of how our region is doing.