Unemployment Rate Drops for 6th Straight Month, But Work Force Shrinks

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

Unemployment dropped from 6.9 percent in August 2010 to 6.6 percent last month, according to the report. However the labor force, which measures the combined workforce of an area, also dropped from 17,500 to 17,100 workers from 2010 to 2011. 

Michael Crowell, a labor economist with the Department of Labor, said workers finding jobs outside the area and discouraged unemployed workers may account for the decline in workforce.

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

"Another thing is that a lot of Long Islanders work mainly in New York City, Westchester County, Connecticut, etc.," he continued, "So a lot of people may be becoming employed, but are doing so off-island."

New York State followed a similar trend as Riverhead, with overall unemployment dropping .6 percentage points to 7.7 percent while the labor force also fell by 100,400 to around 9.62 million workers.

Crowell said that the news about unemployment rates showed how weak the economy currently is.

"Almost any economy you can pick is doing better than ours," Crowell said.