=E2=80=9CWe=E2=80=99re in a very significant, pretty long-lasting =
jobs recovery, but for many people it just doesn=E2=80=99t feel that way,=
=E2=80=9D said =3D"_blank">Mark Zandi, chief economist for ys.com/Pages/atc003.aspx" target=3D"_blank">Moody=E2=80=99s Analytics. =
=E2=80=9CWe=E2=80=99re still not at full employment, even in New York City.=
That keeps a lid on wages.=E2=80=9D

Wages
have been growing steadily in the city, but the average wage for all=20
jobs =E2=80=94 $87,642 =E2=80=94 is still lower than it was in 2007, accord=
ing to the=20
budget office. The main reason is that pay on Wall Street has not=20
returned to pre-recession levels, though it easily exceeds $350,000 a=20
year on average, the office said.

But
the wages of many workers have outpaced inflation. Justo J. Cruz, a=20
hotel houseman, said he had been receiving annual raises of 4 percent=20
through a contract negotiated by his union, the workers.org/" target=3D"_blank">New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council A.F=
.L.-C.I.O.
With the ever-growing influx of tourists to the city, hotels are full=20
of visitors =E2=80=9Cfrom Easter all the way to New Year=E2=80=99s Eve,=E2=
=80=9D Mr. Cruz said.

Mr.
Cruz, 30, said he had spent about $10,000 of his rising income to=20
purchase a used car, an Acura sedan. He and his wife, an accountant,=20
have begun shopping for their first house, preferably in Brooklyn =E2=80=94=
if=20
they can afford one there, he said.

Mr.
Cruz stands at the nexus of New York=E2=80=99s current prosperity. Many of=
the=20
jobs created in the city have been in hotels, restaurants, stores and=20
other businesses that cater to tourists. And, in comparison with=20
previous booms, much more of the growth has come outside Manhattan.

A=
lmost every industry in the city has been adding jobs at a healthy pace. Da=
ta compiled by the /www.labor.ny.gov/home/" target=3D"_blank">New York State Department of Lab=
or indicates that among the fastest-growing sectors are health services=
and places that serve food and drinks.

Wall
Street, on the other hand, has added just a few thousand jobs in five=20
years. Most of that growth has come in the past year or so, after a=20
period of drastic cost-cutting spurred by the financial crisis.

Despite Wall Street=E2=80=99s less-than-robust condition, the city is in=
the midst of what the budget office oreports/2014fiscaloutlook.pdf" target=3D"_blank">described in a recent for=
ecast
as =E2=80=9Ca historically strong payroll employment expansion.=E2=80=9D I=
t projected=20
that the hiring binge would continue for at least four years, adding=20
250,000 more positions by the end of 2018.

If
that forecast proves accurate, this period of growth would be not just=20
the biggest for the city since at least 1950, but also the longest. In=20
the recovery from the deep recession of the early 1990s, the city added=20
nearly half a million jobs. But that expansion started much slower and=20
lasted more than eight years, culminating in the tech-stock bubble that=20
burst in early 2000.

=E2=80=9CThe
diversified nature of the job growth is a very positive sign, and it=20
augurs well for the job recovery going forward,=E2=80=9D Mr. Zandi said. =
=E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s=20
not going to be derailed by a bursting bubble or financial services=20
going off the rails.=E2=80=9D

Saul
Bolton, a chef who lives in Brooklyn and opened his first restaurant=20
there in the late 1990s, remembers those days and =E2=80=9Cthe parties that=
were
thrown,=E2=80=9D he said

=E2=80=9CPeople were making money hand over=
fist,=E2=80=9D he said.

Mr.
Bolton=E2=80=99s business has ridden the surge of commercial activity in=
=20
Brooklyn. He now employs more than 50 people at his three restaurants =E2=
=80=94 nt.com/" target=3D"_blank">Saul Restaurant, website" href=3D"http://www.thevanderbiltnyc.com/" target=3D"_blank">the Va=
nderbilt and nyc.com/" target=3D"_blank">Red Gravy =E2=80=94 and his sausage company=
, Br=
ooklyn Bangers. Basketball fans have been lining up at his sausage stan=
d in the jects/a/atlantic_yards_brooklyn/index.html?8qa" target=3D"_blank">Barclays =
Center, home to the Brooklyn Nets. And he said he looked forward to the=
New York Islanders moving there next season.

Though
his home borough is =E2=80=9Cgrowing like crazy,=E2=80=9D he said, people =
remain more=20
cautious in their spending than in previous boom times.

=E2=80=9CPeop=
le
will still pay for quality,=E2=80=9D Mr. Bolton said. But, he added, =E2=
=80=9Cthey may=20
not buy the most expensive bottle of wine in the way they did.=E2=80=9D

He
cited the large law firm that employs his wife as an example of how the
city=E2=80=99s rebound could ripple to other businesses, spurring more spe=
nding
and more hiring.

=E2=80=9CIn
the past couple of years, they changed from having big office parties=20
outside the firm to save the money,=E2=80=9D Mr. Bolton said. =E2=80=9CNow =
they=E2=80=99re at a=20
point where they can go back out and whoop it up in a more pricey way.=E2=
=80=9D