Business & Tech

Unemployment Down Slightly in Town of North Hempstead

Town of North Hempstead and Nassau rates are down a bit. State Farm in New Hyde Park is hiring.

In the , the unemployment rate for December 2010 was 6.0 percent, down from 6.1 percent in November. It was also 6.0 percent in December 2009. There were 6,780 North Hempstead residents without jobs last month, compared to 7,009 in November and 6,762 this time last year.

In Nassau, the unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent in December 2010 from 6.9 percent in November. It was also at 6.7 percent in December 2009.  There were 45,903 unemployed Nassau County residents in December, down from 47,895 in November and 46,103 a year ago.

To put this local unemployment data into a national context, "the data lists the local unemployment rate at seven percent, the state rate at eight percent and the national rate at 9.1 percent," said Michael Crowell, senior economist at the New York State Department of Labor.

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

"The numbers are basically unchanged," Crowell said, noting that they fell within the margin of error. "The thing that jumped out is that the 2010 and 2009 tied for the highest unemployment rate in December in this data series, which started in 1990."Asked why, Crowell said, "The recession is the short answer."

According to the latest data, other gains include state government education, such as state universities and colleges and community colleges, where jobs jumped 13.2 percent. Jobs in food services and drinking places were up 7.5 percent.

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

"The bright light is education and health services," Crowell said. "Long Island added 6,500 jobs over the year."

Many of those jobs, he said, were in hospitals and doctors offices.

In the other services category, which includes temp agency hiring and was up 5.8 percent, Crowell said, "It's been growing quite strong in recent months." Crowell added that companies hiring temporary employees is usually a sign that employers are testing the water with regards to adding staff. 

Crowell noted that in 2009, Long Island lost 40,000 jobs year over year. Now there are gains in the private sector.

"Just as that's happening, government is losing jobs, putting a damper on the gains made in the private sector," Crowell said. "Those job losses are mainly in the local school districts. We lost 4,500 jobs in government as a whole compared to the year prior."

The cuts, he said, were due mainly to cuts in state aid.

"Things are getting better but not very fast," Crowell  said.

One New Hyde Park company that has been open for about a year is . Owner Lori Wolf opened the business in spite of the difficult economy because she researched the neighborhood and was committed to doing it. Since opening the store, Wolf has tried to help customers out, such as letting a payment slide one week and charging them that amount the following week if the customer is having a tough financial time.

"It's not easy to do, but it keeps the customers happy," Wolf said.

There are some places in New Hyde Park that are . One is on Jericho Turnpike. State Farm is looking to hire a sales assistant, which can be someone who already has their property and casualty license or someone who will get that license, explained sales assistant Gaurav Monga. This sales assistant would help to bring in business for the agents and will be someone who can eventually grow into the agent position, he added.

For people who are interested, they can either come into the office and set up an appointment to be interviewed or come in and fill out an application, Monga said. He added that even when this sales assistant position is eventually filled, State Farm often still looks at resumes for potential other positions.


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