Town of Smithtown Unemployment Rate Drops Slightly

Unemployment in the Town of Smithtown dropped slightly in August.

Smithtown’s jobless rate fell to 6.3 percent in August 2011, compared to 6.4 percent in July of 2011, according to numbers released Tuesday by the New York State Department of Labor.

That means 3,900 were out of work and filing for unemployment benefits in the town.

Smithtown’s jobless rate was still among the lowest on Long Island, which as a whole saw 6.8 percent unemployment in August 2011, down from 7.2 percent the year prior. The local unemployment rate has declined year-over-year in 13 of the last 15 months, according to numbers released by the state.

Suffolk County’s jobless rate was 7.1 percent, which fell from 7.4 percent from July 2011 and 7.5 percent from the same time last year.

Town of Babylon, with 8.2 percent jobless, held the highest unemployment rate in Suffolk County. Southampton Town, with 6.1 out of work, held the county’s lowest rate.

Why then is the unemployment rate is going down while the number of jobs is shrinking?

According to Michael Crowell, labor economist with the Department of Labor, two factors influence that number.

“There are two things going on. First is the group of discouraged workers. If they are not looking for or actively seeking work, they do not count as unemployed."

According to Crowell, workers are also seeking jobs outside of the region.

“Another thing is that a lot of Long Islanders work mainly in New York City, Westchester County, Connecticut, etc... so a lot of people may be becoming employed, but doing do off-island," said Crowell. "Almost any economy you can pick is doing better than ours."