About 500 Connecticut jobs added
Posted on August 6, 2013
The number of Connecticut jobs has risen, according to labor statistics.
In June, nonfarm employment was little changed as the unemployment rate inched higher to 8.1%, according to preliminary estimates calculated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by the Connecticut Department of Labor, Office of Research. Connecticut’s small monthly 500 nonfarm job gain (0.03%) marks the fourth monthly job increase in a row and the fifth monthly gain in the first six months of 2013.
The state’s unemployment rate edged higher to 8.1% in June. The unemployment rate had held steady at 8.0% for the four prior consecutive months. Connecticut’s unemployment rate is down four-tenths of a percentage point from June 2012 (8.5%).
Connecticut has added 10,600 nonfarm jobs (0.6%) since June of last year. Private sector hiring was decidedly weaker in June (-3,200, -0.2%) but was up 8,400, (0.6%, same percentage pace as nonfarm) over the year.
Four of the six major Connecticut Labor Market Areas (LMAs) recorded job gains in June 2013, while two of the major state LMAs posted losses. The two largest LMAs, the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk LMA (3,000, 0.7%, considered statistically significant) and the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford LMA (2,700, 0.5%) performed the best in job growth in June, as the Norwich-New London LMA (1,300, 1.0%) and the Waterbury LMA (400, 0.6%) added jobs as well. The New Haven LMA (-2,500, -0.9%) was the largest declining LMA and the job loss was considered statistically significant. The Danbury LMA (-100, -0.2%) was just slightly down.
Connecticut has now recovered 58,700 positions, or 48.4% of the 121,200 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs that were lost in the state in the March 2008 to February 2010 employment recession. The Connecticut jobs recovery is now 40 months old and is averaging roughly 1,468 jobs per month since February 2010. The private sector has been somewhat more positive and has recovered 63,900 (56.1%, 1,598 per month) of the 114,000 private jobs that were lost during the same employment downturn. At 1,650,500 in June, nonfarm jobs are currently at an employment recovery highpoint in the state.
