New York City’s Renewed Vibrancy Is Hiding Deep Economic Pain
Workers still aren’t flocking back to offices and unemployment is double the U.S. average, ratcheting up pressure to reinvent the city’s economy.
New York City’s apartment sales are sizzling, popular restaurants are booking up and Covid mandates are fading away. But underneath the buzz, an economic pain persists in a city where twice as many people are unemployed compared to the seasonally adjusted U.S. average.
At 7.6%, the city’s unemployment was among the worst of major cities. It also lags behind neighboring Northern New Jersey and Long Island. The jobless rate jumps to 11.1%, not seasonally adjusted, in the Bronx, the highest of New York’s five boroughs, and even higher for Black New Yorkers, who were disproportionately impacted by job losses during the pandemic.
“New York’s economy is enduring a slower recovery because it is so dependent on the office and entertainment sectors,” said Mark Vitner, a Wells Fargo senior economist. “Cities that were quicker to reopen following the initial lockdowns at the start of the pandemic have also tended to see stronger recoveries.”
NO RECOVERY FOR THE BIG APPLE?
