Census data show Long Island lost businesses

New U.S. Census data for 2008 show that Long Island lost businesses for the first time in about 10 years.

The Island lost 813 private-sector companies in 2008, a 0.8 percent drop from the year before, according to data released Thursday. It's the only decline between 1998 and 2008. And the data, the latest available, don't include the worst of the recession, which began here in June 2008 but hit with a vengeance in 2009.

The Island had 95,959 businesses in 2008, down from 96,772 in 2007. Suffolk had 48,351 businesses in 2008, a 0.7 percent drop from 2007. Nassau had 47,608 establishments, a 1 percent drop.

Monthly statistics released by the New York State Labor Department track the number of jobs at companies but not the number of businesses. The latest state numbers show that the Long Island economy had 5,400 more jobs in June of this year than it did in June 2009. But in April 2009, during the depths of the recession here, the Island had 45,200 fewer jobs than it had in April 2008.

A category with some of the largest number of businesses on Long Island - the professional, scientific and technical-services sector, which includes accountants and lawyers - fell 2.2 percent in 2008.

The Island had 12,537 businesses in that sector in 2008, down from 12,820 in 2007. Declines in the sector throughout the recession have concerned local economists.

"Professional, technical and scientific services are among our highest-paying industries," said Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association. "This is why any decline in private-sector businesses in this sector is worrisome."

And because Long Island is a high-cost area, she added, "any development strategy we pursue must provide support for high-paying industries."

New York State also experienced a drop in businesses. It lost 857 companies, or 0.2 percent, in 2008. The state had 518,632 businesses in that year, compared with 519,489 in 2007.

Elsewhere in the nation, Florida saw the largest percentage decrease in the number of businesses - 3.1 percent, or more than 16,000 establishments. Just four states (Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Wyoming) and the District of Columbia saw increases.

Nationwide, the number of businesses fell by 104,000, or 1.3 percent, to a total of 7.6 million.

The data include businesses with paid employees but exclude the self-employed and households that employ workers.