Connecticut’s November job gains were a welcome sign of recovery, an economist with the state’s largest business organization said recently.
The state reversed two months of declines, adding 5,100 jobs in November across a broad range of industry sectors.
“Overall, we do see a welcomed recovery in this report following what was two very disappointing reports in October and September,” Connecticut Business and Industry Association economist Pete Gioia said following the release of the November jobs report.
Gains covered a wide range of industries, led by leisure and hospitality, which added 1,500 jobs, and trade, transportation & utilities, with 1,100.
Manufacturing evened out with 800 new positions, after losing the same amount last month.
The unemployment rate remained at 5.1 percent, the lowest since March 2008. Year over year, the state has added 26,800 jobs.
Connecticut has recovered 88.8 percent of total jobs lost during the Great Recession, the CBIA reported.
The private sector has recovered 101.6 percent or 113,400 of jobs lost during the March 2008-February 2010 economic downturn.
In comparison, Massachusetts added 5,900 jobs in November and has an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent while the United States added 211,000 jobs with unemployment at 5 percent.
“Job growth in November was broad-based and noteworthy after two months of declines,” said Andy Condon, state Labor Department director of the office of research. “Private sector job growth reached a landmark, recovering the losses seen in the 2008 to 2010 recession.”
In national economic news, Gioia noted the recent decision by the Federal Open Market Committee to raise interest rates, likely a quarter-point, was widely expected.
“It”™s a fairly benign impact from what we”™ve seen,” said Gioia.
The uptick will, however, increase the value of the dollar versus foreign currencies, creating challenges for exporters and for companies and countries with dollar-denominated debt.
Gioia said the consensus among economists is that by this time next year the rate increase will incrementally have become a full percentage point.
What this means for Connecticut employers remains unseen, noted Gioia.
