Economist Steve Moore discusses New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s platform on ‘The Bottom Line.’
New York’s status as the U.S. economy’s leading financial hub could be slipping as a leading figure in the city’s business community is sounding the alarm.
Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, which advocates for the city and the financial industry, said in an appearance on WABC 770 AM’s the “Cats Roundtable” on Sunday that the shift is a “scary” development and raises questions about the Big Apple’s economic competitiveness: “Right now, the big challenge is are we going to remain competitive for jobs?”
Wylde told host John Catsimatidis that the “financial services industry, they’re our biggest taxpayers and major employers – and that industry is shrinking in New York.”
American flags on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, on Aug. 18, 2025. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Data compiled by the Partnership for NYC and provided to FOX Business on Monday showed that the state of New York has been surpassed by Texas in terms of the size of the financial sector workforce in the two states.
The group’s data showed that Texas had 519,000 financial sector employees in 2024, above the 507,000 financial services workers in New York. That figure includes employees in banking and finance roles, while excluding insurance and real estate workers.
It also showed that the financial services sector in New York City shrunk by 8,400 jobs from January through August this year, after it added 6,400 jobs in the same period last year.
Since 2019, NYC’s financial services workforce grew by only 4% – a much slower rate than emerging rival metro areas like Austin, which grew 27%, Charlotte gained 21% and Dallas increased 11%.
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Additionally, it showed that JPMorgan Chase now employs more workers in Texas than in the state of New York, with about 31,500 workers in the Lone Star State last year, which made its workforce in Texas the largest of any state.
“We are seeing an acceleration of financial services jobs relocating to states where the cost of living and doing business is far lower than New York,” Wylde told FOX Business. “Headquarters stay here, but our tax base shrinks as people relocate. Low taxes are the biggest competitive advantage of other states, allowing financial professionals to go from giving 55% of their earnings to government in New York City to 38% in Texas or Florida.”
JPMorgan Chase now employs more workers in Texas than in the state of New York. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Despite the slowing growth, New York City remains the leader in terms of banking jobs as other metro areas close in. The report noted that JPMorgan has 24,000 workers in NYC, topping…
Read More: NYC’s financial services industry shrinking, data shows
