LI shed jobs in July, reflecting seasonal changes, state data shows
A help wanted sign at Arooga's in Patchogue, Tuesday, June 2, 2021. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Long Island reported a net loss in jobs last month, reflecting typical seasonal changes in employment of public school employees, according to state data.
Between July and June, the Island lost 13,600 nonfarm jobs, a month-over-month decline of 1.1%, the state Labor Department reported Thursday. The job losses are normal in July as public school ends for summer break, leaving many support staffers, including bus drivers and cafeteria workers without regular employment until the fall.
Typically, the Island faces an average loss of 17,100 jobs in July.
On a year-to-year basis, the Island was up 60,800 jobs last month from July 2020, a 5.2% increase. Nassau and Suffolk are still 9.2% below their July 2019 employment levels.
"On average, schools lay off 19,100 workers seasonally in July," said Shital Patel, labor market analyst with the Labor Department’s Hicksville office. Schools on the Island laid off 2,400 fewer workers last month.
"This year, since local school districts hired fewer workers than expected due to the pandemic, there were fewer layoffs at the end of the school year," Patel said.
Most sectors in the region followed usual seasonal hiring patterns last month, she said, with the construction sector adding 1,500 jobs in July above its average monthly gain of 700.
Local restaurants, however, bucked their typical summer trend by adding 1,200 jobs in July when a loss of 300 jobs is the norm. While restaurants and bars, a part of the overall leisure and hospitality sector, have continued to regain jobs lost to the pandemic at a faster pace than other industries, they have yet to recover all the jobs lost last year.
Employment in the hospitality sector remains at 30,300, or 20.9% below pre-pandemic levels.
More broadly, the region has made significant progress in its recovery but has yet to recover all the jobs lost during the health crisis and remains below pre-pandemic employment levels, Patel said. Long Island is still 125,000 jobs short of its July 2019 levels.
"We’re making progress but now we have this headwind with the delta variant," said John A. Rizzo, chief economist for the Long Island Association business group. "That’s something I’m concerned about. How that’s going to play out in the fall?"
With a growing number of delta cases, Rizzo said he’s worried about the more infectious variant's impact on the Island’s economic recovery, especially given the personal and familial connection many Islanders have to high-infection states like Florida.
"Other parts of the country are not getting vaccinated at a high enough rate and that’s going to spill over to us," Rizzo said.
'We have to do better' Newsday high school sports editor Gregg Sarra talks about a bench-clearing, parent-involved incident at a Half Hollow Hills West basketball game.
'We have to do better' Newsday high school sports editor Gregg Sarra talks about a bench-clearing, parent-involved incident at a Half Hollow Hills West basketball game.
