Islip's August Unemployment Figures a Mixed Bag

Islip’s unemployment rate in August improved slightly but the total number of residents employed fell, possibly indicating a growing number of workers who are finding employment outside of the Town.

According to figures from the New York State Department of Labor, the Town’s jobless rate in August stood at 7.7 percent, down slightly from 7.8 percent in August 2010. Mirroring the small decline in the unemployment rate is the drop in Islip’s total workforce.

The labor department said the Town’s total workforce in August was 175,000, down from 179,200 in August 2010. The number of employed residents in Islip last month was 162,200, down from 165,100 a year ago.

"The question comes up, ‘How come the unemployment rate is going down while the number of jobs is shrinking?’" said Michael Crowell, labor economist with the New York State Department of Labor. "People are finding jobs out of the region."

Countywide, the unemployment rate in August stood at 7.1 percent, lower than Islip’s but higher than Long Island, which had an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent.

According to the labor department, the private sector job count was down 1 percent in August. Areas seeing job growth last month included professional and business services and educational and health services.

Those segments seeing the sharpest decline in employment were leisure and hospitality, information, financial services, manufacturing and natural resources, mining and construction. In addition, government payrolls were down by 2,400 jobs.

Statewide, the unemployment rate in August remained unchanged at 8 percent. The number of unemployed New Yorkers increased slightly from July, from 755,900 in July to 756,400 in August.

"Like the nation as a whole, the state's economic recovery slowed in August," said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, deputy director of the state Labor Department's Division of Research and Statistics. "The state's unemployment rate held steady at 8.0% over the month, remaining well below the U.S. rate of 9.1%."

Islip Town Unemployment Figures

Joseph Pinciaro contributed to this story.