- By Todd DeFeo | The Center Square/January 8th, 2021
(The Center Square) – A quarter of businesses in New York closed due to a government mandate amid the COVID-19 pandemic, “substantially higher” than other states across the country, according to a new survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The 25.8% of businesses that closed is higher than neighboring New Jersey, which saw 22.4% of companies close due to a government mandate. Nationally, South Dakota saw the fewest businesses close at 5.8%, while Puerto Rico saw the highest at slightly more than 50%.
Just about 14.2% of New York businesses saw no impact on business operations because of the pandemic. Nationwide, the District of Columbia had the most companies with no impact at 25.9%, while Puerto Rico saw the lowest at 6.7%.
Nearly 57.8% of Empire State businesses saw a decrease in demand for products or services, which is slightly higher than the national average of about 55.6%. Conversely, 11.3% of New York businesses saw an increase in demand for products or services.
Nationally, South Dakota saw the lowest drop in demand for products or services at about 44.9%, while Illinois saw the highest at about 61.2%. Conversely, the District of Columbia saw the smallest increase in demand for products or services at more than 8.6%, while Maine saw the largest at 18.8%.
When it comes to difficulty moving or shipping goods, 11.1% of businesses in the Empire State said they had trouble, “relatively similar” to the national average of nearly 11.5%.
“We have seen an exodus of New York residents, families and businesses who have fled the state for better opportunities elsewhere because of unwelcome policies, burdensome regulations and high taxes,” state Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, said in a news release announcing Republicans’ “Reset New York State” plan. “Substantive and dramatic change is needed, especially at a time when the state’s fiscal challenges have been significantly exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.”
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During a news briefing this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state has a $15 billion budget deficit and blamed Washington for taking “money out of this state and [sending] it to Republican states as a pure political exercise.”
“They’ve used New York as a political piñata to appeal to the conservatives around the country by demonizing New York and New Yorkers,” Cuomo said.
“…New Yorkers have been crime victims as far as I’m concerned by the theft of the federal government,” Cuomo added. “Our message to Washington is going to be very clear. We want a return of the state’s property that was stolen by Washington over the past four years.”
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