Connecticut saw the addition of 3,500 jobs in June, according to new data from the state”™s Department of Labor.
Last month”™s 0.2% uptick in job creation coupled with an upward revision of May’s reported job gain of 7,800 to 8,100 resulted in a seasonally adjusted total of 1.59 million jobs.
As of June 30, payroll jobs are now 102,000 positions above June 2020 levels, a 6.8% increase; the state”™s unemployment rate dipped from 8.1% in May to 7.9% in June.
Connecticut has recovered 189,000 of the 292,400 positions lost in the March and April 2020 lockdown slightly less than a two-thirds recovery.
Private sector employment shed 600 jobs in June after gaining 8,700 in May, but it is now higher by 92,100 jobs (7.2%) from June 2020. The government supersector added 4,100 jobs, primarily at a local government level, and is now higher by 9,900 (4.6%) positions from one year ago.
The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk corridor lost 300 jobs in June while the Danbury area”™s job environment remained unchanged.
“Private sector jobs are up 8,100 over two months as the uneven monthly pattern continues,” said Patrick Flaherty, director of the Office of Research at the Connecticut Department of Labor.
“Even with some recent weakness, construction and retail trade have regained 70% or more of the jobs lost during the pandemic. The same is true for management of companies, accommodation and food services, and private education which have added jobs in each of the past two months.”
However, CBIA President and CEO Chris DiPentima noted that Connecticut”™s 1.4% job growth during the first half of the year was the slowest among the New England states and lower than the national average of 2.3%.
“There are a number of factors impacting job growth, including the lack of widely available childcare, fears of contracting Covid-19, and the federal unemployment benefit supplement,” DiPentima said.
“We expect that the July 1 reinstatement of the work-search requirement for collecting Connecticut unemployment benefits should impact next month”™s jobs numbers while the federal supplement will continue to be a factor until it expires in early September.”
