Connecticut saw more job growth last month than it has in the past decade, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor”™s “Labor Situation” report for August 2015.
The unemployment rate in the state dropped to 5.3 percent from 5.4 percent in July. The national rate is currently 5.1 percent. At this time last year, Connecticut”™s unemployment rate was more than a full point higher at 6.4 percent.
Connecticut”™s unemployment rate has not been this low since April 2008, when unemployment was increasing at the beginning of the Great Recession.
The state’s unemployment rate peaked at 9.2 percent in 2010.
Last month”™s report showed 3,200 jobs were added, seasonally adjusted. Over the year, the state has grown 33,200 nonfarm jobs. Since August 2014, employment in Connecticut”™s private sector has increased by 31,100 new jobs.
“Connecticut”™s estimated nonfarm employment growth pace and unemployment rates have come closer in line with national averages this summer,” Andy Condon, director of the Office of Research at the Department of Labor, said. “In August, earlier school openings and the later Labor Day holiday seemed to influence industry employment, earnings and hours worked.”
Malloy said jobs are moving in the right direction with unemployment hovering around the national average and thousands of jobs being created each month.
“Nonetheless, we must continue fighting for more good paying jobs with good benefits as we engage with companies like never before,” Malloy said. “We have a world-class workforce that is among the most well-educated in the nation. And we”™re making the right investments to grow our economy ”“ supporting small businesses, transforming our transportation systems and making Connecticut an even greater place to live and work.”
The state has now recovered 98.4 percent of the private sector jobs that were lost in the Great Recession. The private sector needs an additional 1,800 positions to reach full, pre-recession recovery.
