LI jobless stats due Thursday
The latest job numbers for Long Island are due out Thursday and after three straight months of slowing losses, labor-market experts believe the April report will show continued improvement.
In fact some economists think the local job market will begin growing again in a few months. Dramatically narrowing losses seem to presage growth in the near term.
The Island had 5,400 fewer jobs last month, compared with March 2009, according to the New York State Labor Department. That’s down from 9,000 in the February period; 10,400 in the January period and 33,000 in December.
“That tells me that it won’t be many more months before we’ll start to see a net increase in jobs,” Pearl Kamer, above left, chief economist for the Long Island Association told Newsday last month.
As perhaps as another sign of an economy on the mend, the unemployment rate fell to 7.2 percent in March from 7.9 percent in February, the biggest tumble between months since 1990, according to the department.
The current job count, though, is a stark reminder of the damage the economy has suffered during the recession, which began here in June 2008. As of March, Long Island has 1.003 million jobs. By contrast, in March 2008, just before the recession started, the Island had 1.048 million jobs, a difference of 44,900.
And the Island’s jobless rate in March 2008 was 4.4 percent, nearly full employment, which is defined as unemployment below 4 percent.
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