New York City’s Economy Still Hasn’t Caught Up

For the U.S. overall, the big job market story of the past year has been one of high demand for workers and a less cheap and abundant supply of labor than employers had gotten used to. The unemployment rate is just about back to where it was before the pandemic-induced recession of 2020, and — unlike during the early years of the previous economic expansion — the U-6 measure that includes the underemployed, marginally attached and discouraged does not seem to be indicating that there’s a lot of hidden unemployment. Definitions of “full employment” vary, but the U.S. economy right now seems awfully close.

The Big Take: New York City’s Renewed Vibrancy Is Hiding Deep Economic Pain