NY producing migrant workers

From Crains:

New York state's job base grew at just one-tenth the national rate from 1993 to 2007, largely because more firms left the Empire State than moved here and because more local companies went out of business than were born, according to a report released Wednesday by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

During that 15-year period, New York added 165,500 jobs, for a growth rate of 1.7%, according to the report by the conservative think tank, which draws on a newly-developed set of data generated from Dun & Bradstreet Information files.

New York gained 259,090 jobs from firms moving into the state while losing 407,558 jobs from relocations to other states, the report says, with many of the jobs moving to New Jersey and Connecticut. The state's net job-migration loss was the worst of any state.

The bulk of the outmigration loss—89%, or 129,560 jobs—was in New York City. Long Island was one of only two regions to post a moderate gain, possibly on the back of the city's loss.

The Empire State also lost 656,942 more jobs to business closures than it gained from startups, a key factor in its weak overall growth, and the sixth most significant loss in the country.

Expansion of existing firms was the principle cause of job growth in the state, with firms creating 900,054 more jobs than they shed.

“But this wasn't nearly enough to make up for the state's job-migration losses and its failure to nurture more startups,” wrote the report's author, J. Scott Moody. Only seven states had lower growth rates than New York, Mr. Murphy noted, calling for changes in tax policy to provide a “shot in the arm” to small businesses.