RVC Unemployment Rate Up Slightly

Rockville Centre's unemployment rate increased by fourth-tenths of a percentage point from August to October this year, growing from 5.4 percent to 5.8, according to statistics released Thursday by the New York State Department of Labor. The village's unemployment rate was at 6.4 percent a year ago, the highest its been since 1992.

In the same report, it detailed that Nassau County's unemployment rate remained at 6.8 percent in October, as it has for the past three months. The county's unemployment rate was at 7 percent a year ago. On a statewide level, unemployment has stayed at 8 percent since September, however, it's down .2 percent from August.

"The overall report is pretty positive, the numbers track fairly closely to the national data," said Gary Huth, regional analyst for New York State Department of Labor. "We're doing better than the national economy. It's slow but improving. There does appear to be some degree of certainty of the viability of recovery. But the speed of the recovery is a little slower that we'd like to see." 

Dr. Pearl Kramer, chief economist for the Long Island Association, said that though these numbers are official, there are still other factors to be considered.

"You have to keep in mind that this is the official unemployment rate," Kramer said. "There is another unemployment rate that includes people who are working part time involuntarily because they can't find a full time job, and there are the so-called discouraged workers who stopped looking for work because they couldn't find a job."

Huth added that there are nearly 11,000 more jobs than there were in October 2009, a growing rate of 1.1 percent a year. "It's not gangbusters, certainly, but it's significantly better than it was earlier, Huth said. "But, the unemployment rate held steady."

He explained that the financial service sector seems to be lagging behind, down 1,500 jobs from last year, while health care and private eduction have received a boost.

Chamber of Commerce President Larry Siegal said he thinks that the recent opening of some new businesses in the village has helped keep the unemployment rate from rising in Rockville Centre. "We got the new bank, a couple new restaurants," Siegal said. "Maybe that's the difference."