NY Fed: LI job market better . . . but

It’s difficult to talk about the Long Island job market these days without caveats, the “yes, but” qualifications necessary when describing the complexity of the post-recession and post-Sandy employment situation here. And a recent blog post from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is proof of that.

Despite the storm’s destruction, “Long Island’s economy didn’t get derailed by Sandy,” said two Fed researchers in an overview released Monday. In fact the post said that evidence suggests the Island, especially Nassau, got an employment boost because of recovery and rebuilding efforts.

The analysis noted, for example, that Long Island construction employment surged in December and has “continued to grow strongly into 2013.”

But it added, “One concern is that employment remains depressed in high-paying sectors like manufacturing, finance and government, while much of the new job creation has been in lower-paying industries like private education and leisure and hospitality.”

And one caveat beyond the report: Even though construction employment has jumped post-Sandy, the sector has yet to make up all the jobs it lost during the recession. In August, the sector had 69,100 jobs, significantly below the 75,500 in August 2007, four months before the recession hit, state Labor Department data show.

And one P.S. regarding the data: August data is the most recent available because the government shutdown pushed back the release of state and regional statistics for September. Those data, prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, were scheduled to come out on Oct. 17. The state Labor Department hasn’t disclosed a new date.

For more on the Fed’s analysis of the Long Island economy, click here.