The Big Apple’s halting return to the office following the coronavirus shutdown is gaining steam – with occupancy rates jumping by nearly 12 percentage points in just the last month, new statistics show.
The occupancy rate surged to 46.1% for the week ending Sept. 21, up from 34.5% over the last week of August, according to figures from City Comptroller Brad Lander’s monthly report on the status of the city’s economy.
New York’s occupancy rate now exceeds Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles — but continues to trail Houston, Dallas, and Austin.
“[S]trong economic growth has brought us a long way since the dark days early in the pandemic, when many worried about whether the business would reopen and residents would return,” Lander wrote. “Many indicators of economic and cultural life show the resilience of New York City.”
The report also showed New York City’s unemployment rate ticking up to 6.6%. However, that increase appears to have been driven by people returning to the workforce as the number of jobs in the Big Apple finally hit 97% of pre-pandemic levels.
New statistics show NYC’s halting return to the office following the pandemic shutdown increased by nearly 12%. Getty Images
New York’s economic resurgence and return to office have helped fuel a return to the subways and buses, MTA stats show.
Lander projected that the number of jobs offered by private employers in the five boroughs is likely still five or six months away from hitting the 4.1 million jobs tallied in February 2020, just before the onset of COVID-19.
However, the report cautioned that soaring energy prices and interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation could pose significant challenges for New York in the coming months.
City Hall has acknowledged that it may face budget shortfalls of $10 billion annually as market turmoil causes shortfalls in municipal pensions.
