Post-pandemic unemployment persists in NYC: DiNapoli

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli during a news conference in 2016. Photo: Mike Groll/AP

CITYWIDE — POST-PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT IN NEW YORK CITY PERSISTS FOR SOME DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS, particularly for youths and Black people, according to a report that state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released on Tuesday. DiNapoli also found that unemployment among people without a college education is closer to pre-pandemic levels than it is among college-educated people, a major shift from earlier this decade.

The city’s unemployment rate of 5.6% in December was higher than the national 4.4% rate. Even with workforce increases, the number of unemployed persons remains higher than it did in December 2019, when it was 4%.

The unsteadiness of the city’s workforce recovery from the pandemic is reflected across the demographic and socioeconomic makeup of the labor force, including gender, age, race and ethnicity, education and citizenship status. Black unemployment in the city stood at 8.9% last year, over three times higher than for whites and higher than the pre-pandemic rate in this category.

Youths aged 16 to 24 experienced the highest unemployment rate of all age groups nationwide, notwithstanding significant improvement during 2024; youths still face higher joblessness than other age groups.

Workers aged 55-64 are the only age group whose current unemployment rate is below pre-pandemic levels.

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