New York City added only 1,000 jobs in the first half of 2025.

New York City added fewer than 1,000 private-sector jobs in the first half of 2025, marking the slowest job growth outside of recession periods in recent decades.

Calm before the storm: Upward New York City job, labor force, and population revisions for 2024, but economic turbulence ahead — Center for New York City Affairs
Source: centernyc.org

At a glance

Key Evidence

Verified August 14, 2025

The New York Times states fewer than 1,000 private-sector jobs were added in NYC during the first half of 2025.nytimes.com
Moody's Analytics economist Mark Zandi confirms NYC added just 956 private-sector jobs in this period.governing.com
This is described as the slowest growth outside recession and pandemic years since 2003.nytimes.com

The reporting

What the Evidence Shows

Multiple reputable sources confirm that New York City's job growth in the first half of 2025 was extremely sluggish. The New York Times reports that fewer than 1,000 private-sector jobs were added during this period, describing it as the slowest labor market growth outside of recession and pandemic years since 2003. Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi corroborates this data, noting that New York City added just 956 private-sector jobs in the first half of 2025.

This stagnation is significant given New York City's usual role as a leading economic indicator for the national economy. While some sectors such as local government and healthcare saw modest job additions early in the year, overall employment growth was nearly flat. This contrasts with the broader U.S. Labor market, which added more jobs but also showed signs of slowing down by mid-2025.

Therefore, the claim that New York City added only about 1,000 jobs in the first half of 2025 is accurate and reflects a concerning economic trend.

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