Slow Job Market Remains on Long Island

Ed Lynch Wednesday, July 18, 2012

It appears that the job market will not be getting any better anytime soon on Long Island. The expected growth from the Labor Department has not been seen by many of those still looking to find a job.

The expected growth rate has not been met which means that the unemployment rate on Long Island has actually grown recently. The new unemployment rate for the island is at 7.4 percent currently rather than the 6.7 percent which was seen just a year ago.

The current numbers indicate that there were 6,300 more jobs in June than were seen just a year previous. This is a drop from May where an increase of 9,100 more jobs was added from the year previous.

The trend is not limited to Long Island. The national averages only had a growth rate of 80,000 new jobs. This is a significant drop from what the U.S. Labor Department expected to see for this period of time. The slowdown indicates that the nation may not yet be out of the slump it has been in. For growth to occur, more businesses will need to hire employees. Applications for unemployment benefits have had an increase recently of 34,000 new applications. This means that the current numbers are 386,000 new applications nationwide which exceeds the predictions from economists of 365,000.

The biggest loss was seen in the construction sector. Long Island construction companies saw 4,700 fewer jobs than the year previous. On a positive note, the health-services sector had increased jobs with 5,999 new positions from the year previous. Of course, this represents the lower-wage sector of Long Island, so the growth is not that positive.

Edwardl@longislandyellowpages.com

Appears In: Jobs & Careers

 

 

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