Long Island Unemployment Increases For Second Month

LONG ISLAND, NY — Unemployment in the area has begun to rise again and has still not reached pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the state Department of Labor.

The unemployment rate for Long Island in July was 5.2 percent, up from 5 percent in June, according to the state. The lowest it reached this year was in May, when it was 4.7 percent. Before the pandemic closures began, the area's unemployment was around 3.9 percent.

Unemployment on Long Island jumped to a staggering 17.5 percent last April as the pandemic closures hit the area hard. It was the highest unemployment rate on record — more than double what happened during the Great Recession that started in 2008.

The July unemployment rate for Nassau was 5.2 percent, and 5.3 percent for Suffolk. That equates to 36,100 people without jobs in Nassau and 40,200 in Suffolk.

Long Island's unemployment rate had been falling steadily since the April peak, but was still at historic highs for most of the year. Unemployment jumped back up to over 6 percent in January and February.

September was the first month since the pandemic began when Long Island's unemployment was finally lower than the Great Recession that began in 2008, when it topped out at 8.2 percent in early 2010, according to statistics from the Department of Labor.

New York City is still the hardest-hit area in the state, with an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent in March — which is 405,700 people out of work. That's down from the May 2020 high point of 20.2 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate in July was 5.7 percent, which equates to 693,200 people out of work.