24 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2021
AS COVID RESTRICTIONS LESSEN, LONG ISLAND ECONOMY REBOUNDS
Restrictions have loosened although
variants remain, but the economy is
recovering, as rising cost of living
hits residents and companies sort out
whether and how to blend remote and
in-person work.
“I think it’s a mixed bag,” said Jeffrey
Reynolds, CEO of Family and Children’s
Association, a large nonprofit health
and human services organization.
“Those who were doing OK are doing
slightly better. Those who were struggling
are struggling more than in the
past.”
Unemployment in both Nassau and Suffolk
rose to 12.9 percent in June 2020,
falling to 5 percent by this June, well
below the 6.1 percent national average.
Nassau and Suffolk added more than
100,000 jobs from June 2020 to June
2021 in what Bruce Bergman, a regional
economist with the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS), called “the largest overthe
year gain recorded for any June
since the start of the series in 1990.”
Nassau and Suffolk from June 2019 to
June 2020, however, lost 228,200 jobs.
Shital Patel, a regional economist with
the New York State Department of Labor,
said the region remains at 119,500,
or 10.2 percent, below pre-pandemic
levels of June 2019.
“Long Island has largely kept pace with
the greater New York area in terms of
overall job growth during this recovery
period,” Patel said. “As economic activity
resumed, Long Island’s private sector
regained a large portion of jobs lost.”
While many economic indicators paint
a positive picture, others point to an
ongoing emotional toll amid variants
that threaten a recovery.
“The anxiety, depression, and drug
use that existed pre-pandemic has
been multiplied exponentially,” Reynolds
said. “Drug and alcohol use has
increased.”
Nassau and Suffolk’s 104,600 job gain
translates into 9.1 percent growth,
edging ahead of 8.9 percent in the New
York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan
area. Patel said “leisure and hospitality
added the bulk of the jobs,” more than
30,000, for 37.5 percent growth, including
23,900 in accommodations and food
services.
“A lot of high-wage jobs tend to be in
the five boroughs, people who work
A fisherman at work off the coast of Montauk. (Getty Images)
somewhere else to get higher salaries,”
Reynolds said. “Many jobs on Long
Island are service-oriented jobs like
restaurant staff or not-for-profits or
construction.”
Retail added 17,200 jobs and healthcare
and social assistance added 14,700 jobs.
The arts, entertainment and recreation;
transportation and warehousing; and
professional and technical services
sectors all added at least 5,000 jobs each.
Compensation has not been keeping
pace with inflation, increasing pressure.
New York State Department of
Labor Chief Regional Economist Martin
Kohli said wages and salaries in the New
York metropolitan area rose 2.3 percent
over the year, while consumer prices
rose 4.1 percent. Wages and salaries
rose 3.5 percent nationwide, also outpacing
Long Island.
The BLS’ Bergman said, “The numbers
are affected by shifts in industry and
occupational employment as have occurred
over the past year.”
Average weekly wages for the fourth
quarter of 2020 in Nassau were $1,456
and $1,454 in Suffolk, well above the U.S.
average of $1,339. Fast food and counter
workers got $14.03 per hour in the New
York metropolitan area, compared to
$11.80 nationwide, while accountants
got $50.83 compared to $39.26 nationwide,
according to BLS data.
Working remotely became a bigger part
of the norm and technology sometimes
increased convenience and lowered
costs. Telehealth lets services be provided
more easily and, often, cheaply.
“That makes all the difference in the
world, particularly for low-income families
who may have to take three buses
to get to treatment,” Reynolds said.
More government funding gives nonprofits
resources to serve a growing
need, he added. “There’s more awareness
about mental health issues,” Reynolds
said. “No matter how well adjusted
you were before Covid, the average
person got a taste of what some people
struggle with on a daily basis.”
Affluent residents are acquiring summer
homes that are sometimes being
used far beyond the summer. “They’re
still buying. Everybody you can imagine.
People in rentals. First-time home
buyers,” O’Connell said, noting high-end
Gold Coast market estates have “not had
a market like this in 10 years.”
She said virtual tours and 3D photography
will remain as buyers expect
technology to offer tours before they
go in person.
“Before they get in their car, they’re going
to want to experience houses in different
ways,” O’Connell said. “They’re
going to want real video.”
The fall likely will bring a shift from
outdoors back indoors, which Reynolds
said likely will bring more pressure
related to the pandemic.
“I would expect September is going to
be really challenging,” he said. “The
uncertainty of where Covid is going has
added a lot of stress.”
PRESS BUSINESS
continued from page 23
“Long Island has largely kept pace with the greater
New York area in terms of overall job growth during
this recovery period,” said Shital Patel, a regional
economist with the New York State Department of Labor.
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