Unemployment Rates in Babylon Town Down Slightly

May unemployment figures for released Tuesday by the New York State Department of Labor were down year-over-year, but remained higher than the countywide rate.

According to the labor department, 7.7 percent of residents across the township were without work in May, down from 8.0 percent in May 2010.

In the Village of Lindenhurst, the jobless rate for May was 7.6 percent, down from 8.2 percent in the same month the previous year.

The town's current labor force stands at 111,700 with 103,00 workers employed and 8,600 unemployed. In Lindenhurst the total number of workers in May was 14,800, with 13,700 residents employed and 1,100 unemployed.

The May unemployment rates for Babylon Town and Lindenhurst were higher than Suffolk County. Labor department figures show the county’s unemployment rate at 6.9 percent, down from 7.2 percent in May 2010.

Despite the drop in unemployment levels at the town level and in Lindenhurst, the rate of job growth overall as slowed.

Michael Crowell, a senior economist with the state labor department, said the slowdown in hiring seen in many municipalities across Long Island may be a bit of an anomaly because of the hiring of Census workers in the spring of 2010.

He also said the slowdown seen in May when compared to previous months could stem from the continued uneasiness from business owners about the overall state of the economy and concerns about the possible impact the sharp rise in gas prices seen during the spring would have on consumer spending.

Statewide, the rate was 7.9 percent, down 0.7 percent from May 2010 when the jobless rate stood at 8.6 percent. New York’s unemployment rate was considerably lower that the nation’s jobless rate for May, which stands at 9.1 percent.

New York’s economy in May lost 21,200 private sector jobs.

According to the state, since the economic recovery started in November 2009, New York has regained 45 percent (148,700) of the private sector jobs lost during the recession of 2008-2009.