NYS Labor Department Revises Earlier 2010 Job and Unemployment Reports

Long Island is adding jobs, but apparently not as many as originally thought in 2010. Also, more people were unemployed than previously stated.

After its annual process of factoring in unemployment tax records, to ensure the accuracy of its earlier reports, the revised its numbers, saying Wednesday that the number of private sector jobs in 2010 actually fell by 7,000.

The new total number of 2010 private sector jobs is 1,017,600. That’s nearly 46,000 below Long Island’s pre-recession peak of 1,063,500, in 2007. 

Prior to the revision, the Labor Department had reported that Long Island’s private sector began adding jobs in April. Post revision, however, it was revealed that the gains began in July, said Michael Crowell, the Labor Department’s senior economist for Long Island.

“The good thing is we’re adding jobs, but not as fast as we like to see, but at least it’s positive,” Crowell said.

Out of a workforce of almost 112,000 in the Town of North Hempstead, 7,565 reported being unemployed in January, according to the latest figures. The town's unemployment rate was 6.8 percent, well below Nassau County's rate and among the lowest figures for municipalities.

However, the number of town residents claiming unemployment benefits rose by more than 899 between December and January, according to the latest report. One year ago, the Town of North Hempstead unemployment rate was 7.0 percent with 7,861 unemployed, state figures show.

The monthly uptick in the town's figures is probably due to drops in seasonal employment, experts said.

On Long Island, private sector jobs increased in January by 5,600, bringing the total number of jobs to 986,900, up by .6 percent from a year earlier. Top gains were seen in education and health services, with 4,200 new jobs; trade, transportation and utilities, with 2,900 new jobs; and professional and business services, up by 2,700.

In addition, the department also revised unemployment figures for 2010. On Long Island, the average unemployment rate increased from 7.1 percent to 7.4 percent. However, for the month of January 2011, Long Island’s unemployment rate is at 8 percent, with 116,352 people unemployed, down from 120.135, at a rate of 8.2 percent a year earlier.

In Nassau County, the unemployment rate increased to 7.5 percent in January, 2011, up from 6.6 percent in December 2010. However, it was at 7.8 percent in January 2010. There were 50,516 unemployed Nassau County residents in January, up from 45,193 in December. That increase is almost entirely due to seasonal holiday employment opportunities that ended in the new year, Crowell said. Still, there is an improvement over January 2010, when 52,867 were unemployed.

“Most startling is that the January numbers don’t show a decline in local government education,” Crowell said, referring to public school district jobs. He added that during the last three to four months there were layoffs in local school districts, but by January the rate ceased, even showing an increase.

The Labor Department will release numbers for February on March 24.