1  4  Regional Indexes of Coincident Economic Indicators  BIS central bankers’ speeches  This has happened without much help from the securities industry (Wall Street), a key driving force behind past local economic recoveries. The strongest job growth has been in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and – importantly for the Bronx – education and health services. Although closely linked to the rest of the city, the borough has its own vibrant economy. Some manufacturing takes place here, particularly in food, apparel and textiles. In addition, Hunts Point may be the world’s largest food distribution center. However, the largest sectors – health and education services – account for nearly half of all private jobs in the borough. In education, the Bronx hosts Fordham University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, among others. As for health services, numerous facilities include the Montefiore Medical Center, now the borough’s largest employer. I am pleased to report that the Bronx, unlike the nation and the city overall, sustained almost no net job loss during the recession. While national employment remains well below its prerecession peak, the Bronx has added 10,000 jobs since the recession began. Some of this resilience is due to the borough’s concentration in health and education – the only sectors that grew nationally during the recession. Another factor is that Bronx residents largely rent their homes, so they were less vulnerable to the fallout from the housing crisis. This is not to say that all is well here.
Some 12 percent of the Bronx workforce – a painfully high share – is jobless and less than a fifth of its adult population hold a college degree. The seeming disconnect between the pace of job creation here and high unemployment reflects commuting patterns. Many Bronx residents work in Manhattan and other places where job trends have been less favorable. In addition, not all jobs in the Bronx are filled by borough residents. High unemployment and low average levels of education help explain why the per capita income here is less than two-thirds of the national average. A quarter of the population here lives below the poverty line, more than double the national rate. Reducing poverty and raising the graduation rate are clearly major challenges for policymakers here,2 even though the Bronx, like the city, seems headed in a promising direction. How are families here doing in reducing their debt to more sustainable levels? Let me tell you what our special consumer credit panel reveals about the Bronx.3 Families here, as renters, carry relatively little debt. However, it worries me that in contrast to falling debt levels elsewhere, Bronx residents have not reduced their indebtedness during the last two years. Also troubling is the 17 percent of household debt in the Bronx that is seriously delinquent: roughly double the rate in the state and nation. Plus, the number of delinquencies is still climbing here, even though they are falling in the state and nation.