Connecticut added 7,800 jobs in May

Connecticut recorded an increase of 7,800 jobs in May, a 0.5% uptick, according to new data from the state Department of Labor, which revised April’s preliminary job gain from 500 to 1,200, bringing the job total to 1.58 million.

Connecticut has now recovered 185,200 of the 292,400 positions lost in the March and April 2020 lockdown, or 63.3%. The state”™s unemployment rate is now at 7.7%, higher than the national rate of 5.8%.

Private sector employment rose by 8,600 to 1.36 million and is now higher by 141,000 jobs year-over-year. However, the government supersector lost 800 jobs last month to a level of 221,900, although it is now higher by 10,600 year-over-year.

Within Fairfield County, the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk corridor added 200 jobs in May  and the Greater Danbury area added 300 jobs.

“Jobs are up more than 18,000 so far in 2021, and the unemployment rate is lower than it was more than five years after the start of the great recession of 2008,” said Patrick Flaherty, director of the Office of Research at the Connecticut Department of Labor.

“Month-to-month changes are difficult to interpret this year due to unusual seasonal patterns, but the overall trends are positive.”