New York City is a
global hub of business and commerce, as a 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. New York City's
unemployment rate fell to its record low of 4.0% in September 2018. Many
Fortune 500 corporations are
headquartered in New York City, as are a large number of
multinational corporations. One out of ten
private sector jobs in the city is with a foreign company. New York City has been ranked first among cities across the globe in attracting
capital, business, and tourists. This ability to attract
foreign investment helped New York City top the
FDi Magazine American Cities of the Future ranking for 2013. In 2017, there were 205,592 employer firms in New York City, of which 131,584 of these firms were shown to be owned by men, and 45,114 were shown to be owned by women. Of those firms, 64,514 were owned by minorities, and 125,877 were shown to be owned by non-minorities.
Veterans owned 5,506 of those firms. , 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 known as
"Madison Avenue". The city's
fashion industry provides approximately 180,000 employees with $11 billion in annual wages. Other important economic sectors include
medical research and technology,
non-profit institutions, and universities. Manufacturing accounts for a significant but declining share of employment. 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 over US$200 million worth of exports annually. Entrepreneurs were forming a "Chocolate District" in Brooklyn , while
Godiva, one of the world's largest
chocolatiers, continues to be headquartered in Manhattan. ==Wall Street==