The one thing that did bounce back quickly? Traffic.
Traffic is back
The sharp rebound in traffic — even in dense cities like New York — is particularly interesting. Data from the MTA reveals that Subway usage in the Big Apple is hovering around 70% of what it used to be pre-pandemic — a figure that, like office occupancy, hasn't budged much this year. However, usage of the cities bridges and tunnels has been back to normal pretty much since late 2021, recovering quickly from the traffic-free days of the pandemic.
Mining from home
Obviously, remote working isn't suitable for every profession. Data from the American Community Survey confirms what you might expect; writers and authors, economists and market researchers, software developers, management analysts and mathematical scientists are the occupations with the highest share of remote workers (all north of 60%). On the flip side, butchers, metal and plastic workers, mining machine operators and highway maintenance workers are all overwhelmingly working as normal, with just 2-3% of people in those occupations working remotely.
