Connecticut’s economy performed better in 2018 than it has in eight years ”“ but it still lags the rest of New England and the majority of the country, according to the state Department of Labor.
According to the Labor Department, Connecticut”™s State Economic Indexes (SEI) performance last year was ranked at 136.9, below the nation”™s average of 148. The 2018 number put Connecticut 37th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia; it placed 38th in 2017.
That figure also put the state last in New England, behind Rhode Island (151.9), Massachusetts (151.2), New Hampshire (143.1), Maine (143.1) and Vermont (139.2).
SEI is measured using Labor Department data on four equally weighted areas ”“ wages, employment levels, number of business establishments and the unemployment rate.
Connecticut ranked second to last in terms of wage growth, with only South Carolina putting up a lower increase. The state”™s 4.1% unemployment rate was above the national figure of 3.9%. It finished 19th in terms of growth rate of businesses and 49th in job growth.
Connecticut”™s SEI has increased by 36.9% since 2010, when the economy began to recover from the 2008-10 Great Recession. The U.S. index in that period grew by 48%.
