Boston's Economy 2024: Recovery, Resilience, and Growth

In 2023, Boston continued its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, showing signs of both resiliency and settling into a post-pandemic “new normal”. Inflation in the seasonally unadjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached its peak in the Boston Metro area in September 2022 at 8.1% before falling to just 2.0% in January 2024. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Employer Statistics, nominal wages in the region increased more slowly over the past year and failed to keep pace with inflation. As a result, average real wages fell somewhat over the course of 2023. The changes in average wages may reflect changes in occupational composition of employment; we await additional data that will allow us to explore that issue in greater depth at the Boston level. This report also covers: payroll, foot traffic, public transport, consumer spending, offices, planning, and construction.