New York Recovers All Jobs Lost During Covid Pandemic

The number of jobs in New York City rose to a record and for the first time surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Employment in public and private sectors reached 4.71 million in September, according to a statement distributed by Mayor Eric Adams Office Thursday, citing data from New York State Labor Department. The previous record, set in January 2020, was 4.7 million jobs.

The data shows that the city has recovered all the 946,000 positions lost in the private sector during the Covid pandemic.

"Our economy is back," Adams said in a video message posted on YouTube. "Our work is not complete. We're taking a victory lap, but we have not won the race. There are too many New Yorkers who are left out of our economic recovery."

The mayor said his administration will continue implementing policies to support small businesses and attract "major employers from around the world" to the city.

According to the mayor's office, the recovery in the local labor market comes more than a year earlier than estimated by the Independent Budget Office, a publicly funded agency that provides nonpartisan information about New York City's budget and economy.

The latest data from N.Y. shows that New York City led job creation in the state in the past 12 months. Health services and education was the group that opened most positions in the state in the past 12 months, with 120,300 jobs, followed by government (37,000) and leisure and hospitality (36,700).

Unemployment in New York City was unchanged at 5.3% in September, well above the national rate of 3.8%. For the rest of the state of New York, unemployment rose to 3.1% from 3% in August.