New York City Companies All but Stopped Hiring in First Half of the Year
During the same period last year, companies in the city hired 66,000 additional workers, according to data from the city's Office of Management and Budget. But companies have since slowed their hiring, and major industries that fuel New York's economy — finance and insurance; hospitality; and retail — have shed jobs.
Around the country, the labor market has started showing cracks as the effects of President Trump's economic policies begin to settle in. Other large cities have also seen sluggish job growth, with metro areas like Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose all losing a small number of jobs so far this year.
'The New York City economy has gone sideways so far this year,' said Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody's Analytics. 'New York is a leading indicator, and the flattening of employment is now showing up nationally.'
The sharp slowdown in the New York City's labor market followed a resurgence last year in the local economy, which emerged slowly from the pandemic but reached a record level of employment with record bonuses for Wall Street workers.
Now, the labor market in the largest municipal economy in the country appears notably weaker. The pace of job growth this year is the slowest since 2003, excluding the pandemic and the Great Recession.
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