Islip June Unemployment Figures Rise

The 2011 roller coaster ride for Islip Town’s unemployment rate continues as the number of local residents out of work in June grew.

Figures from the New York State Department of Labor show the Town’s unemployment rate at 7.6 percent, up slightly from June of 2010 when the rate stood at 7.5 percent. May’s unemployment rate was 7.3 percent.

The number of Islip residents out of work in June numbered 13,400, equal to that of June 2010. However, the number of residents out of work grew about 80,000 from May. The total workforce town-wide is 176,600.

Michael Crowell, a senior economist for the state Department of Labor, told Patch that the increase in unemployment levels is an indication of discouraged workers. "People just stopped looking for work. Unless there’s some more job growth, yes [this will continue]," he said.

In other Suffolk towns, Babylon’s unemployment rate for June is 8.1 percent, Brookhaven 7.4 percent, Huntington 6.4 percent and Smithtown 6.5 percent.

Suffolk’s unemployment rate for June stood at 7.3 percent, up slightly from June 2010 when the jobless rate was 7.2 percent. May’s unemployment rate was 6.9 percent.

Statewide, the jobless rate for June was 8 percent, down from 8.6 percent in June of 2010. The May unemployment rate for New York was 7.8 percent.

“Like the nation as a whole, our state unemployment rate increased over the month. However, we remained significantly below the nation’s jobless rate, which increased to 9.2 percent in June,” said Bohdan M. Wynnyk, Chief of Labor Statistics, Division of Research and Statistics.

Rich Arleo contributed to this story.

Islip Town Unemployment Figures