Long Island jobless rate dips to 7%
Job fair participants at Hofstra Credit: Audrey Tiernan
The Long Island economy continues to show signs of slowing growth, according to state Labor Department data released Thursday.
The Island had 8,800 more private-sector jobs in December 2010 compared with December 2009. That follows annualized growth rates of 13,200 for the November period and 10,600 for the October period. The good news is that the revised number for November showed a significant jump from the 10,000 jobs originally reported.
The unemployment rate dipped to 7 percent in December from 7.2 percent in November. But the number of unemployed workers rose. The lower jobless rate could mean that more people gave up looking for work and thus aren’t included in unemployment numbers.
Educational and health services, the only sector to add jobs consistently throughout the recession, led job growth in the December report, expanding by 6,500 positions.
Shown above, participants at a jobs fair at Hofstra in October.
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