Home to the globe’s largest two stock exchanges, The New York Stock Exchange (Wall Street) and the NASDAQ, New York City is an international financial center, and a hugely important industry in the city. Over 35% of New York City’s employment income comes from financial services. These 344,700 individuals who work in the industry are also among the best paid, earning as a group half of all wages in Manhattan, though only making up for 1/6 of the local job market.
New York City has proven itself an attractive place for a wide variety of foreign corporations. In fact, foreign companies employ 1 out of every 10 private sector workers in the city. The influence of trade with China is especially significant, as the country has been New York City’s leading growth market for exports since 2000. Moreover, over half of the largest Chinese companies in the U.S. have offices in New York City.
Another vital industry in New York City is healthcare, which is centered around research and medical services. In the United States, more life sciences post-graduate degrees are given out in New York, than any other city. Some 60,000 physicians and 127 Nobel laureates are connected with NYC medical institutions. Meanwhile, some 565,000 New Yorkers work in health care, in 70 hospitals across the state. Of the state’s 70 hospitals, 20 alone are based in NYC.
It’s no surprise that New York City is a pretty pricey place to live and has prime real estate. In fact, local real estate is some of the most expensive square footage in the world. Real estate plays an important role in the local economy, as the total value of city property was US$802.4BN back in 2006. Office space requires a pretty penny in Manhattan. 450 Park Avenue, for instance, was purchased for US$510MN in 2007, which boils down to US$1,589/ft2. Ouch!
Nobody’s very surprised when they see big cameras and famous actors and entertainers roaming the streets of the Big Apple. Film, media and television are a major part of what makes the city great. Of global importance, New York City’s television and film industry ranks second in size, after Hollywood, in the United States. New York City also happens to be America’s #1 media market, making up 7% of television-viewing homes in the states. In terms of the music industry, three of the “Big Four” recording companies are headquartered in New York City.
Many journalists and publishing professionals flock to New York City for the variety of job opportunities the city offers. Often coined the “media capital of the world” New York City is home to the world-famous daily, the New York Times, and another 200+ newspapers and 350 consumer magazines. The city’s publishing industry is also widely respected and recognized and employs 25,000 individuals.
Manufacturing is a less glamorous, but vital part of New York City’s economy. Some of the main products manufactured in the city are chemicals, clothing, processed foods, metal products, furniture, among others. Of the many types of manufacturing present in New York City, food-processing is the manufacturing sector that is most stable. Over half of the manufacturing sector employees are first-generation immigrants.
High tech enterprises in Manhattan are referred to as part of Silicon Alley, where companies dealing with digital and new media, the internet, telecommunications, etc. are located. Over US$2.1BN was generated in venture capital in the first half of 2014 in Silicon Alley. If you consider telecom carriers, internet service providers, cable companies and publishers, some 3% of the city’s economy is represented by the industry. An approximate 43,000 city residents are employed by the sector.
Sources: Wikipedia
Photo 1. based on IMGP5786rd, by Bill Benzon, CC-by-SA 2.0
Photo 2. based on Empire State – New York City, by Sam valadi, CC-by-2.0
Photo 3. based on New York, by faungg’s photos, CC-by-ND 2.0