Huntington Unemployment Dips in October

Huntington's unemployment rate slid to 6.2 percent in October, compared to a rate of 6.5 percent in October 2009, the state's Department of Labor announced Thursday.

Huntington's jobless rate was the lowest on Long Island, shared with the Town of Smithtown, which also posted 6.2 percent unemployment.

The town's unemployment rate fell slightly in October, but is down .3 percent from October 2009, when the rate was 6.5 percent, according to a report by the State Labor Department released Thursday.

"The overall report is pretty positive. The numbers track fairly closely to the national data. We're doing better than the national economy. It's slow but improving. There does appear to be some degree of certainty of the viability of recovery. But the speed of the recovery is a little slower that we'd like to see," Gary Huth, Long Island economist for the state labor department, said.

Suffolk County also saw 7 percent unemployment in October, while Long Island came in at 6.9 percent.

"There are 10,900 more jobs on Long Island than there were in October 2009. We are growing at a rate of 1.1 percent a year. It's not gangbusters, certainly, but it's significantly better than it was earlier," Huth said.

Huth said the manufacturing industry has stayed the same, however, a representative from Leviton Manufacturing said they are increasing their employment base.

The company – a Melville-based producer of electrical wiring devices, data center connectivity solutions and lighting energy management systems – has seen a decrease in business due to a "decline in new housing starts and commercial construction over the past two years," but that hasn't stopped them from hiring locally, according to vice president of human resources and administration, Mark S. Fogel.

"Locally we have a few opportunities, mainly in engineering and financial areas in Melville. We have seen a modest increase in hiring this year as we look to grow selected businesses that are performing well," Fogel said.

Huth said there might be a decrease in the next few months related to seasonal changes.

"Usually there is some increased hiring in retail trade, though this month it's unchanged. In wholesale trade there is a big jump up," he said.

Overall, the Labor Department said these numbers are positive and that Island-wide statistics are on the right track.

"We've been starting to improve over the last five months [though] September was weak. This number, while it's not great, it's a solid number," Huth said.