City economic overview

New York is a global hub of business and commerce. The city is a major center for banking and finance, retailing, world trade, transportation, tourism, real estate, new media, traditional media, advertising, legal services, accountancy, insurance, theater, fashion, and the arts in the United States; while Silicon Alley, metonymous for New York's broad-spectrum high technology sphere, continues to expand. The Port of New York and New Jersey is also a major economic engine, handling record cargo volume in 2017, over 6.7 million TEUs.[321] New York City's unemployment rate fell to its record low of 4.0% in September 2018.[322]

Many Fortune 500 corporations are headquartered in New York City,[323] as are a large number of multinational corporations. One out of ten private sector jobs in the city is with a foreign company.[324] New York City has been ranked first among cities across the globe in attracting capital, business, and tourists.[325][326]This ability to attract foreign investment helped New York City top the FDi Magazine American Cities of the Future ranking for 2013.[327]

Real estate is a major force in the city's economy, as the total value of all New York City property was assessed at US$1.072 trillion for the 2017 fiscal year, an increase of 10.6% from the previous year with 89% of the increase coming from market effects.[328] The Time Warner Center is the property with the highest-listed market value in the city, at US$1.1 billion in 2006.[328] New York City is home to some of the nation's—and the world's—most valuable real estate. 450 Park Avenue was sold on July 2, 2007 for US$510 million, about $1,589 per square foot ($17,104/m²), breaking the barely month-old record for an American office building of $1,476 per square foot ($15,887/m²) set in the June 2007 sale of 660 Madison Avenue.[329] According to Forbes, in 2014, Manhattan was home to six of the top ten ZIP Codes in the United States by median housing price.[330] Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan commands the highest retail rents in the world, at US$3,000 per square foot ($32,000/m2) in 2017.[331]

As of 2013, the global advertising agencies of Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group, both based in Manhattan, had combined annual revenues of approximately US$21 billion, reflecting New York City's role as the top global center for the advertising industry, which is metonymously referred to as "Madison Avenue".[332] The city's fashion industry provides approximately 180,000 employees with $11 billion in annual wages.[333]

Other important sectors include medical research and technology, non-profit institutions, and universities. Manufacturing accounts for a significant but declining share of employment, although the city's garment industry is showing a resurgence in Brooklyn.[334] Food processing is a US$5 billion industry that employs more than 19,000 residents.

Chocolate is New York City's leading specialty-food export, with up to US$234 million worth of exports each year.[335] Entrepreneurs were forming a "Chocolate District" in Brooklyn as of 2014,[336]while Godiva, one of the world's largest chocolatiers, continues to be headquartered in Manhattan.[337]

Wall Street

The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, the world's largest stock exchange per total market capitalization of its listed companies.[84][85]

New York City's most important economic sector lies in its role as the headquarters for the U.S. financial industry, metonymously known as Wall Street. The city's securities industry, enumerating 163,400 jobs in August 2013, continues to form the largest segment of the city's financial sector and an important economic engine, accounting in 2012 for 5 percent of the city's private sector jobs, 8.5 percent (US$3.8 billion) of its tax revenue, and 22 percent of the city's total wages, including an average salary of US$360,700.[338] Many large financial companies are headquartered in New York City, and the city is also home to a burgeoning number of financial startup companies.

Lower Manhattan is home to the New York Stock Exchange, on Wall Street, and the NASDAQ, at 165 Broadway, representing the world's largest and second largest stock exchanges, respectively, when measured both by overall average daily trading volume and by total market capitalization of their listed companies in 2013.[84][85] Investment banking fees on Wall Street totaled approximately $40 billion in 2012,[339] while in 2013, senior New York City bank officers who manage risk and compliance functions earned as much as $324,000 annually.[340] In fiscal year 2013–14, Wall Street's securities industry generated 19% of New York State's tax revenue.[341] New York City remains the largest global center for trading in public equity and debt capital markets, driven in part by the size and financial development of the U.S. economy.[342]:31–32[343] In July 2013, NYSE Euronext, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange, took over the administration of the London interbank offered rate from the British Bankers Association.[344] New York also leads in hedge fund management; private equity; and the monetary volume of mergers and acquisitions. Several investment banks and investment managers headquartered in Manhattan are important participants in other global financial centers.[342]:34–35 New York is also the principal commercial banking center of the United States.[345]

Many of the world's largest media conglomerates are also based in the city. Manhattan contained over 500 million square feet (46.5 million m2) of office space in 2015,[346] making it the largest office market in the United States,[347] while Midtown Manhattan, with nearly 400 million square feet (37.2 million m2) in 2015,[346] is the largest central business district in the world.[348]

Silicon Alley

Silicon Alley, once centered around the Flatiron District, is now metonymous for New York's high techsector, which has since expanded beyond the area.[349]

Silicon Alley, centered in Manhattan, has evolved into a metonym for the sphere encompassing the New York City metropolitan region's high technology industries[350] involving the Internet, new media, telecommunications, digital media, software development, biotechnology, game design, financial technology("FinTech"), and other fields within information technology that are supported by its entrepreneurship ecosystem and venture capital investments. In 2015, Silicon Alley generated over US$7.3 billion in venture capital investment across a broad spectrum of high technology enterprises,[52] most based in Manhattan, with others in Brooklyn, Queens, and elsewhere in the region. High technology startup companies and employment are growing in New York City and the region, bolstered by the city's position in North America as the leading Internet hub and telecommunications center, including its vicinity to several transatlantic fiber optic trunk lines,[351] New York's intellectual capital, and its extensive outdoor wireless connectivity.[352] Verizon Communications, headquartered at 140 West Street in Lower Manhattan, was at the final stages in 2014 of completing a US$3 billion fiberoptic telecommunications upgrade throughout New York City.[353] As of 2014, New York City hosted 300,000 employees in the tech sector.[354][355]

The biotechnology sector is also growing in New York City, based upon the city's strength in academic scientific research and public and commercial financial support. On December 19, 2011, then Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced his choice of Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to build a US$2 billion graduate school of applied sciences called Cornell Tech on Roosevelt Island with the goal of transforming New York City into the world's premier technology capital.[356][357] By mid-2014, Accelerator, a biotech investment firm, had raised more than US$30 million from investors, including Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, for initial funding to create biotechnology startups at the Alexandria Center for Life Science, which encompasses more than 700,000 square feet (65,000 m2) on East 29th Street and promotes collaboration among scientists and entrepreneurs at the center and with nearby academic, medical, and research institutions. The New York City Economic Development Corporation's Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative and venture capital partners, including Celgene, General Electric Ventures, and Eli Lilly, committed a minimum of US$100 million to help launch 15 to 20 ventures in life sciences and biotechnology.[358]