Retail Sector Has Added Average of 14,000 Jobs Each Holiday Season, Generating Over $500 Million Per Year in Economic Impact
Our Bureau
New York, NY
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday released a new report, “Festive Spending: the Impact of the Holiday Season on NYC Retail,” showing holiday season shopping in New York City has fully recovered following the COVID-19 pandemic, attracting up to 4.4 million daily visitors, creating 14,000 jobs, and pouring over $500 million into New York City’s local economy. This injection of money into local businesses comes as Mayor Adams celebrates “Affordability Week,” where he is advancing a series of generational projects that will make New York City more affordable for working-class people. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) report — analyzing daily visitation on Black Friday and December weekends from 2019 to 2023 — traced foot traffic across traditional Manhattan tourism and retail hubs like Times Square and Fifth Avenue, as well as neighborhoods across the boroughs like Downtown Flushing in Queens and MetroTech in Brooklyn.
As the Adams administration and New York City has broken multiple records for total jobs in the city’s history, and a recent analysis from the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) shows a robust recovery of the retail sector, the holiday season is poised to bring a significant boost to New York City’s economy and continue to put money in New Yorkers’ pockets, making the city more affordable for working-class people.
“New York City isn’t just coming back — we’re back, and we’re better than ever,” said Mayor Adams. “We’re hitting jobs record after jobs record, we’ve brought our economy back from its COVID lows to hit new highs, and we’re continuing to put money back into working-class New Yorkers’ pockets to make this city more affordable. No time is that more true than the holidays — and we can’t wait to welcome the millions of people from around the world who come to our shopping districts this time of year. They’re supporting thousands of jobs and businesses, and injecting half a billion dollars into our local economy. So, when you’re shopping this holiday season, remember — shop local, shop small, and most of all, spend money in New York City!”
“This report offers data that supports what we see across the city every day — a robust economy, bustling business corridors, and a large and growing network of small businesses in every borough,” said First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. “As we enter the holiday retail season, the city will see hundreds of millions of dollars of spending at businesses of all sizes and is poised to enter 2025 on an economic upswing that will benefit all New Yorkers.”
“New York City has reached record highs this year in employment and labor force participation. This new report shows that our shopping districts have also had a strong comeback and will continue to thrive,” said NYCEDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “New York City’s holiday season is expected to return to its pre-COVID levels this year, bringing millions of visitors, thousands of jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars to our communities, from Midtown Manhattan to Downtown Flushing and everywhere in between.”
Key takeaways from the report include:
The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for New York City shopping districts. In 2023, daily visitation during Black Friday and December weekends averaged 3.2 million visitors, a 14 percent increase from the average daily visitation of the year. Daily visitation in these districts peaked at 4.4 million visitors — 2.8 times the population of Manhattan — on the weekend before Christmas.
Manhattan retail hubs like Fifth Avenue, Bryant Park, Times Square, and SoHo are the most popular destinations for holiday shopping, with foot traffic increasing significantly on Black Friday as well as on December weekends. In other boroughs, retail hubs like Downtown Flushing and the MetroTech area in Downtown Brooklyn also attract large crowds. Daily visits to Downtown Flushing, for example, exceed those to SoHo.
The holiday season is also a key driver of jobs for the retail sector. Since 2020, the retail sector has added an average of 14,000 jobs each holiday season, generating over $500 million per year in economic impact.
The Midtown hubs — Times Square, Bryant Park, and Fifth Avenue — are top attractions for tourists, especially during the holidays. In 2023, 70 percent of visitors to these areas during the holiday season came from outside of the city, 9 percentage points higher than an average weekend.
Increased visitation leads to higher consumer spending near the end of the year. In New York City, spending during December weekends in 2023 was 20 percent higher than non-holiday weekends that year.
The report on holiday retail boosts follows positive news last month from DCP that storefront vacancy rates have declined for four consecutive quarters. By comparison, a survey of 24 corridors across the city during the summer of 2020 showed inactivity rates of over 30 percent.
