It’s great to say that as a nation we are finally getting out of our economic slump, and that the United States unemployment rate has dropped to 6.1 percent, which is the lowest reading since September 2008 – all signs point to the economy on the rise.
The decrease in the unemployment rate is greatly due to the fact that American companies are getting comfortable again with the economy’s prospects to add new workers at a very healthy pace. This comes after years of saying that they lacked the confidence to hire while our economy was still making its recovery. In June alone, employers added 288,000 jobs, and is the fifth month in a row that hiring has topped the 200,000 mark. Employers are hiring significantly more workers in response to a growing demand rather than doing things such as adding hours to existing workers schedules and therefore, stretching existing work forces.
Much of our economy has rebounded- including corporate profits, Wall Street and the housing market. With the prospect of a stronger economy and healthier consumer spending as more Americans are finding work, the stock market has also seen a positive incline. Hiring has been broad-based, including industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, and retail. The private service sector, where the bulk of jobs in the U.S. are created, also showed major job growth.
As for Long Island, the unemployment rate has also dropped to the lowest that it has been since 2008. Nassau County’s rate decreased to 4.2 percent, while Suffolk County’s unemployment rate decreased to 4.7 percent. The number of private sector jobs on Long Island increased over the year by 15,900, or 1.5 percent, to 1,103,300. Construction on both residential and non-residential projects across Long Island continued to boom and the sector added 4,300 jobs, which is the highest gain since 1990.
These statistics prove that our economy, both nationally and locally, is on the rise. Let’s hope that this upward trend continues, and we are able to push efforts forward in expanding our job markets.
