ALBANY - The latest edition of the Economy Watch put out by the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) shows that New York State is continuing to experience significant downward trends in its overall economic condition.

“The Economy Watch continues to show that our state is suffering from severe economic decline. State and local leaders need to do everything we can to leverage funding from the federal stimulus plan to stem any further decline in our economy. We need to retain the jobs we have here in New York and attract new business and employment opportunities,” said NYSAC President Sarah Purdy, Yates County administrator.

NYSAC’s Economy Watch is updated monthly and provides a range of data, including business cycle indicators, the consumer price index, job growth and layoff numbers, consumer and business confidence indicators, as well as local housing prices and sales activity.

Among the results presented in June’s Economy Watch include:

• The Index of Coincident Economic Indicators (ICEI), which has fallen for 13 of the past 14 months;
• Unemployment rates, which rose from 7.5% in April to 8.0% in May (before seasonal adjustment) despite increased seasonal hiring in many traditional tourist destination counties. A total of 29 counties exceed the State’s 8% unemployment rate;
• Housing sales declined by 21% for the month and have declined 40% since a year ago. Statewide sale prices have declined by 7.8% since a year ago and 11.8% since May of 2007;
• Consumer confidence increased in May by 5.5 points although New York consumer confidence indicators continued to be below the rest of the nation;  
• The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which indicates that general business conditions for the state’s manufacturers continue to slip with indicators declining an additional 5 points in the last month.