Photo: Theo Watson

New York Times – The recession that ended in 2009 caused less damage in New York City than economists previously thought, according to revised jobs data released on Wednesday by the State Labor Department.

The city lost fewer jobs during the downturn and started regaining them sooner and faster than previous tallies indicated, said James Brown, principal economist for the department. The annual revisions of the state and city employment statistics for the previous 18 months bolstered the view that the city’s economy bucked recent trends by escaping the recession in better shape than the rest of the nation, he said.