Jobs growth on LI in April was nearly triple the usual monthly gain

Long Island reported its second consecutive month of above-average job gains Thursday, led by increases in the hiring of hospitality and restaurant workers, state data shows. Still, restaurant owners say it’s been difficult to fill positions.

The Island added 12,700 jobs on a month-over-month basis in April, the state Labor Department reported, well above the historical average for the month. On a year-over-year basis, Long Island has added 197,100 jobs since April of last year.

"The April jobs report really showed the second month of solid jobs gains on Long Island," said Shital Patel, labor market analyst in the Labor Department’s Hicksville office. "The region added 12,700 jobs in April, which was nearly triple the average April gain of 4,700 jobs."

Leading the way in job gains last month was the leisure and hospitality sector, which was hit hard by pandemic restrictions.

Overall, leisure and hospitality businesses netted 5,000 new jobs last month, well above a more typical 1,900-job gain for this time of year, Patel said.

"It’s a combination of restrictions being eased and also better weather," she said. "People are going out, more and more people are being vaccinated. All of those reasons point to a lot more business at the region’s restaurants."

Richard Vogel, dean of the school of business and professor of economics at Farmingdale State College, said the recent job creation numbers are encouraging as they point to the Island's continued recovery.

"The numbers are indicative that we’re pulling out of the slump," Vogel said. Still, the Island remains down 118,800 jobs from April 2019, he said.

All the jobs "haven’t returned yet," he said. "They may return. How long they take to fully return is really a function of how quickly we pull out of this" and how long COVID-19 safety restrictions stay in place.

Despite the Labor Department data showing that restaurant hiring saw big increases last month, some Long Island restaurant owners said they’re having trouble finding workers to fill a variety of openings, a challenge that’s limiting their growth.

Alan Feinstein, owner of H on the Harbor in Port Washington, a catering venue-turned-restaurant, has been struggling to find both waiters and kitchen staff since December.

"We tried to reach out to a lot of the employees that we had, and they had moved onto other positions," Feinstein said.

Feinstein's restaurant is currently open only two days a week. "We could be open two more days a week if we had the staff," he said.

While he initially didn't think the federally enhanced unemployment benefit of $300 was the culprit behind his hiring woes, he said he’s seen little else that explains the difficulty.

"The problem is I haven’t heard from anybody," he said. "We have no applicants."

While there may be some delays in the return to work, Vogel said workers are largely returning to work, even in low-paying fields like hospitality.

"People may stay on a little bit longer [because of the added benefit], but they know they can’t stay on unemployment benefits forever," Vogel said. "They know [benefits] are going to end, and they do want to work."