NYC Retail Jobs 11% Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Retail jobs in New York City have declined by 11% since 2020—about 38,000—trailing other urban centers at a time when retail jobs nationally have increased by 0.7%, to according to a report from Center for an Urban Future.

Three retail sectors in particular saw significant drops in workforce, the report said: clothing and accessories stores saw employment decline by 26.9% in the last three years; jobs in department stores declined by 16.7% and a 14.1% drop in employment at sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores was seen in NYC.

Job levels at food and beverage operations and grocery stores fared much better, decreasing by 4% and 6%, respectively, over the same period.

NYC’s restaurants have bounced back twice as fast as retail, with employment in that sector down 5.7%, according to the study.

The non-profit think tank notes that the decline of retail jobs in NYC predates the pandemic: since February 2015, the city has lost about 46,000 retail jobs while private sector employment in NYC increased by 11.5%, a net gain of 419K jobs.

However, the report said, several factors are speeding up the reduction in retail jobs.

“The rapid growth of online shopping, the increasing adoption of automation by retailers, the slow return of office workers and the sharp drop in the city’s population,” are contributing to a reduction of retail jobs in NYC, the center’s researchers said.

The average retail store in the city now has 10 employees compared to 11 prior to the pandemic, another factoid the Center for an Urban Future presented with a bit of an asterisk, noting that the reduction could have been caused by the growing adoption of automated, self-check-out counters.

According to the study, Manhattan has 20.4% fewer retail jobs than it did before the pandemic began; Staten Island (8.7%), Queens {7.6%}, Brooklyn (5.1%), and the Bronx (3.3%) also have fewer retail jobs.

CRE analysts told Bloomberg that the retail recovery in the city has been uneven, with the biggest challenges facing areas including the Financial District that are populated with half-empty Class B and Class C office buildings.

Neighborhoods including Soho, the Flatiron District, Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg are attracting new retail outlets. Parts of Madison Avenue have seen a renewed level of “impressive” absorption, the report said.