Long Island jobs and wages rise | Long Island Business News

Long Island gained the second most jobs of any area in the state over the past year, trailing only New York City. 

That’s according to the latest report from the New York State Department of Labor, which found that Nassau and Suffolk counties added 18,900 non-farm jobs from Nov. 2023 through Nov. 2024, for a 1.4 percent rise. 

While New York City added 86,000 jobs in that same 12-month period, Long Island outpaced the other New York suburbs, including Orange, Rockland and Westchester counties which added 8,700 jobs for a 1.2 percent year-over-year increase. 

Statewide, private education and health services added the most jobs of any industry sector, adding 122,800 jobs from Nov. 2023 to Nov. 2024 for a 5.4 percent year-over-year rise. The government sector, which includes public education and public health services saw the second most growth, adding 30,000 jobs for a 2 percent bump. The leisure and hospitality sector gained 17,500 jobs between Nov. 2023 and Nov. 2024 for a 1.9 percent increase. 

The sector losing the most jobs in the state was the information sector, which dropped 11,300 jobs between Nov. 2023 and Nov. 2024 for a 4.1 percent decline. Construction lost 5,600 jobs during that same period for a 1.4 percent decline. 

Wages on Long Island are also on the rise. The average weekly wage in Suffolk County was $1,453, a year-over-year increase of 4.3 percent from June 2023 to June 2024, according to the most recent county numbers available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Nassau County, the average weekly wage was $1,475, a 3.6 percent rise from June 2023 to June 2024. By comparison, the average weekly wage in the U.S. was $1,390 in Q2 2024. 

Meanwhile, consumer prices in the New York area ticked up 0.1 percent for the second consecutive month in November as rising prices for food, shelter and medical care were largely offset by lower energy prices, according to the BLS. 

Food prices increased 0.4 percent as prices rose for food away from home (0.5 percent) and for food at home (0.3 percent). Energy prices fell 1.2 percent from October to November, with lower prices for household energy (-1.2 percent) and gasoline (-1.2 percent). 

Higher prices for shelter (0.3 percent), medical care (1.6 percent), and new and used motor vehicles (0.7 percent) were largely offset by lower prices for apparel (-5.4 percent) and airline fares, the BLS reports.  

Over the year, the New York area’s consumer price index advanced 4.3 percent, with prices for all items less food and energy increasing 5.2 percent, food prices rising 1.8 percent and energy prices falling 1.7 percent.