Courtesy Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce
By Todd Shimkus
Every month, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce shares with its members what we call the “Insiders Report.” This email includes charts and analysis of economic trends as we analyze labor data, sales tax collections, the revenue per available room for area hotels, and residential real estate, all with a hyper focus on Saratoga County.
Our biggest takeaway from these reports in 2022 is that the only thing that has held back our local economy is the historic labor shortage we continue to face. According to the state Labor Department for instance, the unemployment rate in November 2022 for Saratoga County was 2.1 percent with just 2,600 people considered unemployed. Throughout 2022, the number of individuals unemployed in Saratoga County has consistently been lower than ever before.
Similarly, the number of people employed in November of 2022 is 120,900, which is also the highest number of people employed in this month ever. Even with some limited workforce reductions now taking place, there are still so many local jobs unfilled that it would appear the labor shortage will continue into 2023.
The second biggest takeaway is that residents and businesses continue to spend money in our local economy, in spite of high inflation. From January through November 2022, Saratoga County collected a record $144.6 million in sales taxes, up 5.3 percent from the same time period in 2021, and up 23.5 percent from 2019.
The same is true for visitors coming to Saratoga. From January through November 2022, Saratoga County’s revenue per available room, or RevPAR, was $103.70, up 25 percent versus the same time period in 2021 and up 11.7 percent versus 2019. Local hotels continue to see an increase in overall revenue with total occupancy up nearly 13 percent versus 2021 and just 2 percent below 2019 figures.
And while national trends suggest a slowdown in the residential real estate market, Saratoga County is again demonstrating tremendous resilience. From January through November 2022, the Greater Capital Association of REALTORS reported that there were 2,776 closed sales in Saratoga County. This sales activity is nearly identical to 2020 and 2019 but is down 10 percent from the same time period in 2021.
The number of new listings during this same time period is also down, and as a result, the median sales price of $388,000 for a home in Saratoga County year-to-date in 2022 is still up just over 10 percent. At least through the first 11 months of 2022, the number of days a home for sale is on the market continues to decline and the percent of original list price received remains above 102 percent.
With this strong foundation for success, our hope in 2023 is that we can finally move from surviving to helping Saratoga County to thrive for years to come. The Saratoga County Chamber is working with the Adirondack Regional Chamber, the Saratoga County Capital Resources Corporation, and National Grid to create a new talent recruitment campaign uniting three of New York state’s best brands—Saratoga, the Adirondacks and Lake George. We simply have to grow our population to help alleviate the labor shortage for our economy to thrive.
For Saratoga County to thrive, we have to help our locally owned businesses to succeed and it is safe to say that no organization does more to support small businesses than the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. Our Love Our Locals campaign has incentivized thousands of local residents to shop and buy local, and in 2023 our Board of Directors has authorized us to re-launch our Small Business Owners Council.
But for Saratoga County to really thrive, we also need to think about helping everyone. That’s why our advocacy is focused on building more workforce housing so more people can live and work in our communities. It’s why the Saratoga County Chamber has been a leading advocate for more public transportation and CDTA’s Flex service, and it’s why we hope this service will be expanded beyond Mechanicville, Clifton Park and Halfmoon.