Retail

Job recovery has been slow but steady. Employment increased by 3,500 jobs in May to 674,800, restoring 34% of 114,400 jobs lost in 2020. The percent of office workers back at desks remains low among larger firms; smaller firms came back more quickly. Residents, tourists and shoppers have brought pedestrian volumes back to 62% of June 2019. SEPTA ridership is up; outdoor cafes are flourishing. After Labor Day, higher ed, major firms and performing arts will all be back.

State of Center City 2021: Restoring, Returning, Reanimating, is a comprehensive overview of marketplace conditions in Philadelphia at the end of 2020. It provides detailed profiles of the diverse employment sectors that comprise the downtown economy, highlighting strengths and challenges as we entered 2021. It includes information on housing and transportation trends and serves as a report on CCD operations and their impact in the last year.

With the installation of 14 cameras that measure pedestrian volumes 24 hours a day, the CCD now provides retailers, brokers, and developers with detailed counts and analyses of hourly trends.