Puerto Rico’s economy has, unfortunately, been in a deep economic slump that has lasted for nearly a decade. Over the past few years, public sector job losses have continued to weigh against modest job gains in the Island’s private sector. And ongoing difficulties in the Island’s labor market continue, with labor force participation still alarmingly low, and unemployment stubbornly high at a rate well above the mainland’s. The good news is that we are finally beginning to see some firming in economic conditions on the Island. At the other end of the spectrum, New York City has been experiencing a robust recovery. While the Great Recession was clearly the worst post-war downturn in U.S. history, New York City was not as badly affected as the rest of the country. As of April, almost five years since the end of the recession, the nation has recovered nearly all of the jobs that were lost. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  By contrast, New York City reached this milestone more than two years ago. And, as we’ve highlighted in previous press briefings, this rebound has occurred despite the lack of any significant recovery in employment on Wall Street. The recovery has generally progressed at a more moderate pace in the other parts of our region. Consistent with historical patterns, Upstate New York as a whole has been growing modestly, with Buffalo and Rochester doing a little bit better than their upstate peers.
William C Dudley: What kind of jobs have been created during the recovery? Remarks by Mr William C Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, at the Regional Economic Press Briefing, New York City, 21 May 2014. *  *  *  Good morning and welcome once again to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Regional Economic Press Briefing. I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak with you. This morning I want to focus on economic conditions in our region, giving particular attention to the kinds of jobs created in New York, Northern New Jersey and Puerto Rico during the recovery from the Great Recession. As always, what I have to say reflects my own views and not necessarily those of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) or the Federal Reserve System. While the New York Fed has broad operating responsibilities on behalf of the FOMC and the Federal Reserve System, we are also deeply committed to our region. That commitment manifests itself in several ways. We produce monthly indices of economic activity that enable us to gauge the performance of the region’s economy. We conduct a regular poll of small businesses in our region, and just last week, we hosted a summit examining new sources of credit for small businesses. We developed block-by-block flood maps which were created after Superstorm Sandy to inform residents and businesses in Brooklyn of their vulnerability to future storms.