Long Island Unemployment Remains Low In July

LONG ISLAND, NY — The unemployment rate on Long Island rose slightly from June to July, but still remained at very low levels.

The unemployment rate in July was 3.3 percent across the Island, according to the state Department of Labor, down 1.4 percent from the same time last year. It's up just slightly from the 2.9 percent unemployment the area had in June.

According to state data, there are 51,300 unemployed Long Islanders. While that number is big, it's 20,500 less than the same month last year.

Still, it's nowhere near the historic highs that were hit when shutdowns began in earnest for the COVID pandemic. In April 2020, unemployment on Long Island skyrocketed to an all-time high of 18.2 percent. That new record was more than double than the peak of the Great Recession that began in 2008.

Statewide, the unemployment rate for July was 4.9 percent, up slightly from the 4.4 percent it was in June. It is also much lower than the all-time high during the pandemic of 16.5 percent, which was set in May 2020. The state seems to once again be returning to pre-pandemic levels of unemployment: the statewide unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in Feb. 2020.

The hardest-hit area continues to be New York City, which has an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent, which is 263,000 people without jobs. While it's still high, it's about 150,000 fewer people out of work than July 2021.