LI jobless rate drops to 3.1% in June; lowest rate for month since June 1990

The jobless rate on Long Island fell to 3.1 percent in June, a 0.6 percentage point decrease from the same month last year, state Labor Department data released Tuesday show. It was the lowest unemployment rate for the month since June 1990.

Long Island’s unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in June 2018.

“That top line number is good news,” said Shital Patel, labor market analyst in the Labor Department’s Hicksville office. Long Island has “had sustained job growth and a pretty good labor market that has drawn people back into the labor force from the sidelines.”

Nassau and Suffolk counties were among eight counties with jobless rates of 3.1 percent or lower out of the state’s 62 counties. Nassau’s unemployment rate dropped 0.5 percentage points year over year to 3.1 percent, and Suffolk’s decreased 0.6 percentage points to 3.1 percent as well.

"It’s a strong a labor market,” said John A. Rizzo, chief economist for the Long Island Association, the region's largest business group. While the rate is "good news" overall, he said, that strength will also mean added challenges for hiring managers and recruiters.

"It will make it more challenging to match workers with jobs," Rizzo said. "That's true in a tight labor market.”

Long Island had the lowest unemployment rate among the state’s metro regions. New York City’s jobless rate was unchanged at 4.2 percent in June.

On Long Island, the city of Long Beach and the towns of North Hempstead, Oyster Bay and Southampton tied for the lowest unemployment rate of any local municipality, 2.9 percent. The Village of Hempstead, at 3.8 percent, had the highest rate on the Island.