The number of retail jobs is on the decline in New York City.
According to a report from the Center for an Urban Future (CUF), the city’s retail sector is not recovering from the pandemic in the same way other city jobs have—and the retail sector is one of the main areas young Blacks and Latinos turn to for initial employment.
According to the CUF report, “More than 70 percent of the city’s retail workers are Black, Hispanic, and/or Asian, and over 20% of the retail workforce is under the age of 25,” the CUF report states, and yet there are 11.1% fewer retail jobs in the city than there were in February 2020.
“New York has largely made up for the retail sector’s extended job losses with new employment growth in tech, healthcare, finance, and a handful of other industries, but a permanent loss of roughly 40,000 retail jobs would disproportionately impact New Yorkers of color. The retail sector’s troubles have almost certainly contributed to the widening gap in unemployment among Black and white New Yorkers—10.4% compared with 2.5%.
“To address this employment crisis, city and state policymakers should invest in workforce training and continuing education programs that can help retail workers transition into other industries.”