Jobs, wages and stocks this week

Jobs, wages and the stock market dominated the Long Island business scene this week.

Despite a report last week that the Island had lost 13,000 jobs, the state on Tuesday reported that the unemployment rate for the Island dropped to 6.8 percent from 7.1 percent  last month. But that news wasn’t as good as it sounded, since economists believe the decline is because of unemployed people who have dropped out of the job marked or who now work off the Island. (Above are participants at a job fair in Hauppauge earlier this month.)

Meanwhile, the holiday hiring season got underway on Long Island with an announcement from Toys R. Us that they were looking to fill 100 jobs, including four store manager positions, at its locations from Valley Stream to Riverhead.

Even those with jobs were in the spotlight: A federal survey of teacher salaries in New York and parts of New Jersey found Long Island teachers at the top of the scale.

The stock market had a tough day Thursday and then finished the week quietly.

And in company news, a British outfit announced it was buying a medical alert company in Oceanside for about $82 million. Arrow Electronics said it completed its all-cash purchase of a Japanese retail company. And Verint, a Melville company that makes video analytics software for spotting evil doers, has adapted the technology to analyze what shoppers are doing in retail stores.

-------------------
Visit newsday.com/biz to read more local business news.