Connecticut Job Search Worsens

Posted on August 5, 2009

Anyone on a Connecticut job search didn’t get much help from the economy during June.

Overall, employers in Connecticut eliminated 4,800 jobs during the month, negating the 3,600 jobs that were added during May. On top of that, the state’s unemployment rate remained at 8 percent, the same as during May, and lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent. Since the state’s peak in March 2008, it has lost 70,200 positions, or 4.1 percent of its total workforce.

During June, the state had a total non-farm employment of 1,639,200 workers, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 1,644,000 workers during May and a 3.8 percent decrease from last year.

As is the place in most cities and states, the construction industry took the biggest hit when compared to last year. That industry employed 51,300 workers during June, down from 53,000 workers during May and a 21.7 percent increase from last year.

As the education and health services industry is absent from the BLS data, every industry managed to shed jobs during June when compared to last year, apart from the other services industry, which employed 63,500 workers, down up from 62,700 workers during May and the same as last year.

Industries that saw an over-the-year jobs decrease include: