Happy apple: A rare bit of good jobs news

The Economist recently highlighted the fact that 7.% of new private-sector job creation since the beginning of the year occurred in New York City. This is impressive because city has less than 3% of America’s population.

 Other great facts about NYC’s strong economy discussed in the article include:

– Average weekly wages in Manhattan jumped by 11.9% over the year in the first quarter of 2010, while wages nationally rose by only 0.8%.

– New York has over 600,000 students, more than Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, DC, combined.

– New York is second behind Silicon Valley in venture-capital investment.

– 35.7% of the city’s residents are foreign-born.

– Times Square rents asked for retail space have doubled in the past year.

– Office vacancy rates have declined.