Brookhaven Unemployment Dips in February

The unemployment rate in the Town of Brookhaven slid for the second month in a row in 2011 as the rate went down to 8.1 percent in February of 2011 compared to 8.5 percent from the same month in 2010, according to data released Tuesday by the New York State Department of Labor.

That's also a slide from the 8.3 percent unemployment Brookhaven saw in January of 2011.

New York State’s unemployment rate as a whole saw a pretty dramatic decrease from 9.5 percent in February 2010 to 8.7 percent in the same month this year.

Michael Crowell, a senior economist for the Department of Labor said that New York is faring better than the rest of the country. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 9.5 percent this February from 10.4 percent a year ago, a “pretty healthy decline” according to Crowell.

“The bad news is it’s just the first month so it’s too early to see a trend there,” he said.

In comparison, Suffolk County’s unemployment rate decreased by .5 percent from 8.7 percent in February 2010 to 8.2 percent in February this year.

“Before the recession began the employment rate in Suffolk was closer to 4 percent,” said Crowell. “So obviously we have a long way to go to get back there.”

The leisure and hospitality sector has been adding jobs since September 2009 in Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to Crowell. This sector that includes restaurants and hotels, is the lowest paying sector.

“The average wage in that sector in 2009 was $21,500,” he said.

Smithtown enjoys a healthier unemployment rate than Brookhaven. In February the rate dropped to 6.5 percent from 7 percent last year. Islip, Riverhead and Southampton have higher unemployment rates than Brookhaven. In Islip the rate in February dropped to 8.6 percent when compared to 9.1 percent in 2010.

Riverhead saw a minute increase when the rate went from 9.4 percent to 9.3 percent for February year-over-year. Southampton leads its neighboring towns with an unemployment rate of 10.2 percent, an increase from 10 percent in February 2010.

Despite Southampton town’s woes, Crowell said that the economy is changing for the better, but slowly.

“It’s going to be another year at least before we get back to where we were before the recession,” he said.

Regional Unemployment Rates Comparing February 2011 and February 2010

Region

February 2011

February 2010

Southampton

10.2%

10.0%

Riverhead

9.4%

9.3%

Islip

8.6%

9.1%

Brookhaven

8.1%

8.5%

Smithtown

6.5%

7.0%

Suffolk County

8.2%

8.7%

New York State

8.7%

9.5%

Data Source: New York State Department of Labor Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program