CHICAGO (Reuters). Office occupancy rates in large U.S. metropolitan areas topped 40% following Thanksgiving.

According to the company, its back-to work barometer, which uses keycard, fob and building access data, showed that there was an increase in the occupancy rate in the 10 most populated cities it secured after the Thanksgiving holiday. This is the highest reading since COVID-19 in March 2020, when many people began working remotely.

Austin, Texas had the highest metro area occupancy of 59.3%. New York was at 37% and Chicago 35.2% respectively, while Los Angeles was at 36.3%.

Nicholas Colas from DataTrek Research said that the trend toward a higher rate of U.S. worker return after working remotely for more than a year could continue in the coming weeks.

Colas reported in a daily update that there was a surprise increase in office occupancy over the past week, despite Omicron virus news. This is despite occupancy expected to stay soft during the holiday period.

Colas stated that urban unemployment was a “significant issue” during the pandemic.

He stated that “more office workers equals more demand in major metro areas for ancillary service, which leads to better employment trends.”

The November nonfarm payrolls rose by 210,000 jobs less than expected, which is the lowest increase since December 2020.