Photo Courtesy of City Department of Design and Construction
In Fiscal Year 2018, the City added 76,600 private-sector jobs, driving citywide unemployment to 4.3 percent, the lowest level on record.
By Forum Staff
The City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2018 touted NYC’s strong economy and record low unemployment rate, according to City Comptroller Scott Stringer, who recently released the report.
Highlights of the FY2018 CAFR include:
• New York City’s economy, measured as real gross city product, grew 3.1 percent, outperforming US Gross Domestic Product growth for the sixth consecutive year.
• For the 38th year in a row, the City ended the fiscal year with a budget balanced according to generally accepted accounting principles.
• The City had an operating surplus of $4.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2018, an increase of about $400 million from the previous fiscal year. After certain prepayments and transfers for Fiscal Year 2019, the General Fund surplus for Fiscal Year 2018 was $5 million.
• City tax revenues grew 8.1 percent, after experiencing the lowest growth since FY10 last fiscal year. Growth was propelled by a 19.1 percent rise in personal income tax revenues, fueled by a one-time boost from Federal tax reform. Property tax revenues grew by 7 percent.
• The City added 76,600 private-sector jobs, driving citywide unemployment to 4.3 percent, the lowest level on record.
“Accountability and transparency make our city stronger. They’re values that we always hold ourselves to—and our CAFR is a testament to that commitment,” Stringer said. “The numbers in this report are the footprints of our City and represent the work of dedicated public servants who keep our city running. New Yorkers deserve the strongest level of public data we can provide. I’m proud that once again, the CAFR has met the highest standards for financial reporting.”
The comptroller also noted that for the 38th consecutive year, the Fiscal Year 2017 CAFR was awarded the prestigious Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association.
In accordance with the City Charter, the CAFR is released annually no later than Oct. 31. In addition to the financial statements of the City as a whole and for each of its accounting funds, explanatory notes to the financial statements, and supplemental financial and statistical information about the City, the CAFR contains the basic financial statements of the City’s five pension systems and closely-related entities such as NYC Health + Hospitals, the NYC Water and Sewer System, and the NYC Economic Development Corporation, Stringer explained.
