More jobs recouped from pandemic losses in 2020

Long Island still hasn’t recouped all the jobs lost during the pandemic’s height in 2020 – but the region no longer ranks among the Top 20 in employment shortfalls nationwide, officials said.

The Island placed No. 30 with 1.5% fewer jobs in September 2022 compared with the pre-pandemic level, according to a listing from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

A year ago, Long Island was No. 14 with a shortfall of 5.6%, the bank said.

“This really represents a significant improvement over the past year,” said Jaison R. Abel, an economist and head of the New York Fed’s regional studies division.

He and others credited the Island’s improved ranking to hiring by hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and other hospitality businesses in the past 12 months.

“One of the things that really sets Long Island apart from [New York City] is that leisure and hospitality…is above pre-pandemic levels,” Abel said. The sector accounted for 136,000 jobs in Nassau and Suffolk counties in September out of a total of 1.3 million jobs.

“A lot of [leisure/hospitality] activity that pre-pandemic would have been happening in New York City is now happening in outlying areas,” Abel said last week during a virtual briefing for journalists.

In addition, he said the local employment picture has brightened because “there was a push of people out of the city to outlying areas” after the coronavirus struck in early 2020. “So Long Island was clearly a beneficiary of that both in terms of employment and housing,” he said.

Jason Bram, another New York Fed economist, agreed, saying local restaurants and retailers are benefiting from spending by people who are working from home instead of commuting daily to New York City.

“The shift to remote work means these people are eating out on Long Island more than in New York City,” he said.

The metropolitan area as a whole placed No. 23 with 2% fewer jobs in September 2022 compared with the pre-pandemic level, the bank list shows. A year ago, the metro area was No. 3 in the nation with a shortfall of 8.3%.

Employment data for October will be released on Thursday by the state Department of Labor.

Nationwide, Honolulu, New Orleans and Pittsburgh had the largest jobs shortfalls in September compared with early 2020, between 4.2% and 7.3%.

The biggest gains over the pre-pandemic employment level were in Austin, Texas; Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Boise City, Idaho, between +6.9% and +10.4%, according to the New York Fed.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.