New York City’s economy contracted 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period a year earlier, after a 2.7 percent contraction in the third quarter, according to the comptroller. The most recent figure is the worst in the nearly two decades since the city started reporting such data, save for a 6.4 percent contraction in the quarter after 9/11, the Times notes.

And in December, the city’s sales-tax collections fell by 12.2 percent from the previous December.

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