The number of nonfarm jobs in the state increased in November by 4,000 jobs, seasonally adjusted, according to the most recent labor report.The unemployment rate dropped to 7.6 percent, the lowest it’s been since February 2009.
Year to date, the state has added 15,600 nonfarm jobs, which is an average of 1,418 jobs per month, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor. The rate is twice as many as in 2012 when the state had added 7,700 jobs by November, an average of 700 new jobs per month.
“We are making steady progress at growing our economy in a way that will create good paying jobs with good benefits for middle class families,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said in a statement after the data release. “But if you haven’t been able to get one of these jobs, then you’re not feeling the impact of these changes. I want to make it clear that we can’t and won”™t stop making progress until everyone that wants a job in our state has one.”
Though the unemployment rate has decreased 0.7 percentage points year over year, the drop is due in part to a shrinking labor force. From October to November, roughly 4,800 people dropped out of the workforce, a 0.3 percent decline.
Acknowledging the shrinking labor force, Â Andy Condon, director of the Labor Department’s office of research, still said a “third straight month of unemployment rate declines is certainly good news.”
“November”™s strong job growth offset some declines in the third quarter, returning us to the positive, though modest, growth path we have seen throughout 2013,” he added.
The month’s largest job gains came from trade transportation and utilities (4,700 jobs), education and health services (3,300 jobs), retail (2,600 jobs) and financial activities (1,000 jobs).
The state has now recovered 52.4 percent of the 121,200 jobs lost during the recession.
