Job growth in New York City slower than the rest of the country

While nearly 6 million jobs have been added to the American job market and the overall unemployment rate has fallen to 4.2 percent, the New York economy finds itself in a rut as opposed to the rest of the country.

Although the city saw 350,000 jobs being added during the last few months of 2020, the employment rate has been slowing down ever since with just 187,000 added since March. The city's unemployment rate currently stands at 9.4 percent which is double the national average. Its decline in the last few months is said to be caused by people dropping out of the labor force. Since the beginning of the pandemic, no other city was affected as much as New York, nearly a million people lost their jobs and even more businesses shut down. Ever since then the city has been struggling to replenish its lost charm. The city is currently experiencing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Every industry in the city starting from construction to finance is now employing fewer people than before the pandemic. 

Why did New York get hit with what experts term a "Double Whammy"? 

New York is one of the most happening cities in the world and it banks heavily on its tourism and businesses to stay alive. Ever since office spaces opened back up, only 8% of the total working population opted to work in person. This created a tremendous loss for multiple businesses. Many businesses surrounding this bustling city banked on people coming to work and visiting the place in person. This includes restaurants, bodegas, food trucks and carts, shopping spaces, musicians and street performers, gift shops, Broadway theaters, entertainment parks....the list is endless. When everything shut down most of these business owners couldn't stay afloat and had to drop out of the labor force causing the city major harm.

Source: The New York Times