The latest employment numbers from the Connecticut Department of Labor continue the narrative of tepid improvements in the labor market with some positive indicators that high-paying jobs are returning.
According to the labor department”™s estimates the state gained 3,500 jobs in April, bringing total employment to a seasonally adjusted 1,689,800.
Year-over-year the state has gained 20,100 jobs and has performed significantly better in the first four months of 2016 compared to 2015.
Year-to-date nonfarm job gains for the first four months of 2016 are 9,800. The employment gains in the first four months of 2015 were only 1,300, according to the department”™s April labor situation report.
There were across-the-board gains in industry sectors with the exception of leisure and hospitality, which lost 3,000 jobs ”” a 1.9 percent decrease ”” following similar losses in April.
“This was a large decline, but it was preceded by seven consecutive monthly gains from September 2015 for this industry super sector that was also enhanced by a warmer winter. In addition, Easter was early this year (late March) and the April decline in accommodation and food service (-2,000, -1.6Â percent) may have reflected this,” according to the report.
Gains were made in several supersectors where the state really needed to see improvement, according to a report by Peter Gioia, an economist with Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the state”™s largest business organization.
The construction and mining supersector gained 2,400 jobs, a 4.2 percent increase; professional and business services increased by 0.5 percent with 1,100 jobs added and financial activities gained 700 jobs, also a 0.5 percent increase.
Education and health services, the state”™s largest industry sector, also made gains with the addition of 800 jobs, a 0.2 percent increase.
According to the CBIA, the state has now recovered 80 percent of jobs lost since February 2010 and must add an additional 23,500 jobs to reach pre-recession levels.
“The report showed some solid progress in job creation but we still have some issues particularly with the rate of unemployment,” said Gioia. “The mix of jobs added is also better than we”™ve seen.”
The unemployment rate remains the same as it was in March at 5.7 percent, though March employment figures were adjusted upwards by 1,000 for a total of 1,300.
“Connecticut saw increases in both job counts and labor force participation in April,” said Andy Condon, director of the labor department”™s office of research. “As new workers entered or reentered the labor force, the number of unemployed also grew. This explains recent upward pressure on our unemployment rate.”
Gioia notes that the state still has the highest unemployment rate of the 6 New England states and remains  is above the 5 percent U.S. unemployment rate.
“This report should be a modest confidence builder for the state,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do but this is a step forward.”
