Unemployment rates were lower in 2016 than a year earlier in 166 of Connecticut”™s 169 cities and towns, higher in two towns ”“ Colebrook and North Canaan ”“ and unchanged in one, East Granby.
The unemployment rate data came from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program, according to the state Department of Labor, which said the annual average statewide unemployment rate in 2016 was 5.1 percent, down from 5.7 percent in 2015. Cornwall had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 2.9 percent, while Hartford topped the list at 9.4 percent last year.
Of the 10 largest cities in Connecticut by population, according to the 2010 Census, Greenwich had the lowest unemployment rate in 2016, at 3.8 percent ”“ a decrease from 2015”™s 4.1 percent. Bridgeport came in at 7.7 percent last year, down from 8.8 percent in 2015; Stamford fell from 4.7 percent in 2015 to 4.2 percent last year; Norwalk fell from 4.9 percent to 4.4 percent; and Danbury decreased from 4.6 percent to 4.2 percent.
Three Fairfield County municipalities recorded a 0.6 percent decrease in unemployment from 2015 to 2016 ”“ Monroe from 5.1 percent to 4.5 percent, Shelton from 5.5 percent to 4.9 percent, and Stratford form 6.5 percent to 5.9 percent. Four fell by 0.5 percent ”“ Norwalk, New Canaan, Trumbull and Westport ”“ and three by 0.4 percent: Danbury, Bethel and Fairfield.
