Long Island Unemployment Ticks Up Slightly In February

LONG ISLAND, NY — The unemployment rate on Long Island for February ticked up again as the area continues to feel the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The unemployment rate on Long Island increased 0.6 percent from December to January, and another 0.3 percent from January to February, bringing it to a total of 6.7 percent. November and December had the lowest rates of unemployment in the area since the pandemic began, both at 5.8 percent. That equates to 95,800 people out of work.

The numbers were slightly better in Nassau County than Suffolk County. Nassau's unemployment rate was 6.6 percent, while Suffolk's was 6.8 percent. That comes out to 45,100 people in Nassau and 50,700 people in Suffolk, according to data from the state Department of Labor.

As recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continues, unemployment has fallen. In April, unemployment on Long Island reached 16.1 percent, or 229,300 people without jobs — the worst unemployment rate on record. But the current rate is still well above February 2020, when unemployment was at 3.9 percent for Long Island. In March, before the closures began in earnest, unemployment was at 3.8 percent. July was the second-highest month of unemployment ever at 13.8 percent.

September was the first month since the pandemic began when Long Island's unemployment was finally lower than the Great Recession that began in 2008, when it topped out at 8.2 percent in early 2010, according to statistics from the Department of Labor.

New York City is still the hardest-hit area in the state, with an unemployment rate of 13.2 percent in February — which is 513,200 people out of work. That's down from the June high point of 20.4 percent, but a tad higher than January, when the unemployment rate was 13.1 percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate in January was 9.6 percent, which equates to 883,300 people out of work. That's also a small increase from January, when the statewide unemployment rate was 9.4 percent.

According to the state, the unemployment numbers come from a survey of 18,000 businesses in New York, which does not include self-employed workers, agricultural workers, unpaid family workers and domestic workers employed by private households.