ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The Empire Center says updated online data shows the 2015 payroll for New York state employees was $15.51 billion, up 1.8 percent from the year before. According to the Empire Center, which has government payroll records dating back to 2008, the state government ended 2015 with 227,326 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees, down from 229,041 a year earlier