Riverhead Unemployment Rate Drops, But Workforce Shrinks

Unemployment in Riverhead dropped for the fifth straight month according to figures released by the New York State Department of Labor on Tuesday, but the labor force dropped as well.

Unemployment dropped from 7.1 in July 2010 percent to 6.6 percent in July, according to the report. However the labor force, which measures the combined workforce of an area, also dropped from 17,600 to 17,200 workers. 

"Generally, the labor force to a degree is a lagging indicator. It takes a while in a period of high unemployment for people to decide to get out," said Jim Brown, a labor market analyst with the New York Department of Labor. "While during times of strong economic growth it takes a while to come back in. Most people are either in or out year after year. But some people decide based on a belief in their ability to find a job."

New York State followed a similar trend, as overall unemployment dropped .6 percentage points to 8.0 percent while the labor force also fell by 140,600 to around 9.63 million workers.