ALBANY — In one of his last official acts in office, Gov. Paterson yesterday vetoed a union-backed “prevailing wage” bill that would have forced Con Edison, local business-improvement districts and other quasi-government entities to give pay hikes to their workers.

The governor also declared that he has moved out of the Governor’s Mansion to make way for successor Andrew Cuomo.

The vetoed measure, which Con Ed and business groups said would lead to higher costs to consumers, would have set a “bad precedent” at a time when the private sector is facing severe economic difficulties, Paterson said.

“We certainly want workers to be compensated, but we think particularly the business districts would have been severely harmed by the passage of this legislation,” Paterson said. “And right now, in the middle of a recession, it is very hard to start creating a new wage cycle.”

Labor organizations put enormous pressure on the Legislature to pass the measure, which was expected to set the stage for their effort to unionize thousands of affected employees.