New York City may lose 475,000 jobs and run $9.7 billion short on tax revenue through mid-2021 because of the coronavirus outbreak, the city’s Independent Budget Office estimated.
Retail employment will take the biggest hit, the IBO said. The sector is expected to shed 100,000 jobs in all, starting with 60,000 from April through June.
The city will be hit by another 86,000 losses in hotels and restaurants, and 26,000 in the arts, entertainment and recreation industries. The remaining job losses will be spread across nearly all of the city’s industries, according to the report released Wednesday by the nonpartisan fiscal monitor.
Although finance and professional services are also expected to see declines in employment, the IBO projects the most severe job losses will be disproportionately concentrated in sectors with low- and moderate-paying jobs. The only major sector of the city economy likely to avoid job losses over the next year is health care, the IBO said.
The IBO estimates that a combined tax-revenue shortfall of $9.7 billion will result from declines in the city’s major tax sources. About $2.9 billion of that shortfall will come in fiscal 2020 and another $6.7 billion in fiscal 2021, the office said. The city’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
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