The federal unemployment assistance that gave an additional $300 a week in benefits during the pandemic has comes to end.
According to the New York State Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for Long Island in the month of July was 5.2%. This is an improvement from July 2020 when the Long Island unemployment rate was 12.8%.
Business owners who struggled to hire employees during this time period say they hope employers will now be able to fill more jobs.
The end of the pandemic unemployment assistance will affect more than 7 million Americans in 26 states, including New York.
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)