Huntington Unemployment Up in May

Unemployment increased sharply in May both Suffolk County and the Town of Huntington, according to recent state Labor Department statistics released Tuesday.

In Huntington, the May unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, up from 5.8 percent a month ago. It was 6.6 percent in May 2010. There were 6,300 Huntington residents listed as unemployed this month, compared to 6,000 in April, and 6,900 a year ago.

Long Island continues to add jobs but not at the pace seen earlier in the year.

The drop-off began four months ago, noted Michael Crowell, senior economist for New York State Department of Labor.

“In the winter, there were three months of more than 10,000 jobs added per month,” Crowell said.

Since February, however, that rate of growth declined. In May, for instance, Long Island added 3,800 jobs.

“It’s discouraging, obviously,” Crowell said.

Still this most recent report shows that fewer people are looking for work than they were a year ago.

In Suffolk County, the unemployment rate was steady at 6.9 percent in May, the same as last month. It was at 7.2 percent in May 2010.  There were 53,900 Suffolk County residents listed as unemployed in May, up from 53,400 in March, and 56,800 a year ago.

Bright spots in the job market include professional  and business services – a category that includes well-paying jobs such as architects, lawyers and engineers – which added 1,300 jobs.

Also hiring, are employers in the health care and social assistance category, which added 3900 jobs.

Yet manufacturing and construction, another well paying sector, did not fare as well. Year over year, manufacturing lost 1,800 jobs, and the construction industry lost 700 jobs.

Bleaker still is the government sector, which lost 8,600 jobs over the year. Almost half of those laid off where were Census workers, while 3,100 were from local school districts, and the rest were state government workers.

While the overall month-to-month outlook seems disheartening, Crowell pointed out that job growth on Long Island is better than it was a year ago.

Still, a full recovery may still be a distance away. As Crowell noted, while the unemployment rate for May was 6.7 percent, the average unemployment rate for the month of May during the last 20 years was 4.8 percent.

“I wish it were better news,” he said.