Fairfield County employers added 2,500 jobs in May, according to new Department of Labor estimates, helping mitigate a slight increase in the statewide unemployment rate.
Connecticut”™s jobless rate was 7.8 percent, up a tenth of a percentage point from April, with the U.S. unemployment rate rising by the same amount to 8.2 percent.
Builders saw the biggest gain, adding 700 jobs for a 1.4 percent growth rate; wholesale trade suffered the steepest drop at 1,400 jobs, a 2.2 percent decline from April.
Connecticut snapped a four-month skid in the number of people seeking work. The number of people filing for initial job claims, however, rose 1.5 percent.
“Growth in the civilian labor force, if it continues, is a sign that more people are actively searching for work and is significant,” said Andy Condon, director of the Connecticut Department of Labor”™s research office, in a written statement.
Connecticut has now recovered about 35,000 of the roughly 118,000 jobs lost in the recession, or 30 percent.
