New York City’s economy is booming, with 702,200 jobs added between 2009 and 2017 — the longest economic expansion in more than 70 years, according to state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
“New York City is undergoing the largest and longest expansion since World War II,” DiNapoli said.
“Employment is at a record level and more jobs are being created in the boroughs outside of Manhattan than ever before.”
Employment in the city increased by 18.9 percent since the recession, pushing the total number of jobs to an unprecedented 4.4 million in 2017. That breaks the pre-recession record by more than 600,000 jobs.
The city’s success accounts for nearly three-quarters of the state’s 11.5 percent job gains over the past eight years.
Although job growth slowed in each of the past three years, the city still posted a solid gain of 72,700 jobs last year.
The securities industry is still a driving force for the city’s economy, but its contribution to job growth has been modest in recent years, DiNapoli said.
Health care, technology, media and business services — as well as tourism-related industries, like restaurants — have fueled the run-up to record jobs numbers, DiNapoli said.
Unemployment fell to its lowest level in 41 years last March, when it was at just 4 percent.
It has risen slightly to 4.3 percent, but it’s still far below the 10.2 percent unemployment hit the city took when the recession brought the job market to its bottom in October 2009.
Brooklyn had the fastest rate of private sector job growth at 38 percent, followed by Queens at 24 percent. Manhattan’s growth hit 20 percent, while the Bronx and Staten Island lagged with 15 and 14 percent growth.