Business & Tech

For First Time in 2011, Jobless Rate in Riverhead Drops

Unemployment drops slightly over 2010 in March, to 8.7 percent over 8.8 percent last year.

Riverhead's unemployment rate fell in March, for the first time this year in relation to 2010, according to state data released on Tuesday. Though the decrease is slight - down one tenth of a percent to 8.7 percent - as the weather continues to turn, the third month of the year has so far been the best.

In January, unemployment in Riverhead was over the previous year, and in February the .

The labor force in Riverhead remained consistent over last month and last March, at 17,300.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Labor Market Analyst Jim Brown, with the New York State Department of Labor, said that across Long Island, health care, social services, and trade - wholesale and retail - have seen increases in employment, a surer sign of long-term growth illustrating "needs that meet the local population."

Four hundred more retail jobs, and 7,300 jobs in health care and social services, were reported in between Nassau and Suffolk Counties over March of last year.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Suffolk County saw its unemployment rate drop to 7.5 percent in March, compared with 8.1 percent in March 2010. New York State's jobless rate fell more than a full percent, from 9.1 in 2010 to 8 percent this past March.

The local upward trend on a month-to-month basis, according to Brown, may continue as leisure and hospitality jobs open up in the warmer months. In March alone, leisure/hospitality jobs alone grew by 3.7 percent, adding 3,400 jobs in the past 12 months.

"The month over month drop (in unemployment) was due to seasonal pickup in hiring," Brown said. "Leisure employment is often a sign of an improving economy."

In addition to leisure and hospitality, Brown pointed to 2,600 new construction jobs, which he called a "particularly nice gain."

To find a combination of construction and leisure one need to look no further than downtown, at 100-room Hyatt hotel being built. While construction on the hotel continues, the seasonal hiring should commence soon.

"Generally through spring you get improvement in many of the same sectors in May as you did in April," Brown said. "Though the further out you go, or the closer to the ocean you get, the less leisure and hospitality picks up this early. You see that once you get closer to summer."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here