Riverhead’s unemployment rate dropped below 10% for the first time since the coronavirus crisis took hold in March.
The unemployment rate in Riverhead Town was 9.5% in August, down from 12.4% in July, according to data released yesterday by the Suffolk County Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs. In comparison, the town’s unemployment rate was 3.7% in August 2019.
Riverhead’s unemployment rate was 5.3% in March, then jumped to 15.6% in April, after the governor ordered a statewide shutdown of businesses in an effort to stop the spread of the virus in the community.
Unemployment in Riverhead peaked in April and has declined each month since.
Suffolk County’s unemployment rate jumped from 4.1% in March to 16.4% in April — its high point to date since the pandemic struck. It has since come down and was 10.4% in August, when 82,100 Suffolk residents were jobless.
Unemployment in New York State was 12.6% in August and 16.3% in New York City.
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