The personnel offices were busy in Connecticut during June ”“ according to the state”™s Department of Labor (DOL), Connecticut grew 6,100 jobs in June as the unemployment rate dropped by 0.1 percent to 4.4 percent. The DOL also revised May”™s employment numbers to add 2,000 jobs to the 4,100 that had been previously announced. For the first half of the year, nonagricultural employment in the state grew by 14,900 jobs, or 0.9 percent.
Private sector employment grew by 7,600 jobs, or 0.5 percent, to 1.47 million over the month in June, and grew by 19,400, or 1.3 percent, seasonally adjusted jobs over the year. Seven of the 10 major industry supersectors gained employment in June, most notably the leisure and hospitality supersector with 2,400 net new jobs. In comparison, the government supersector lost 1,500 positions in June to a total of 228,100, with over-the-year job losses of 4,500, or a 1.9 percent decline.
“June’s increase of 6,100 jobs overcame the entire decline we saw in March and April,” said Andy Condon, director of the DOL”™s Office of Research. “Our three-month average job growth has once again turned positive. The seasonally adjusted year-over-year job gain of nearly 15,000 jobs is very encouraging, but this number can be volatile. Our average annual gain for the last 12 months is 5,300, still ahead of last year’s pace. Construction and manufacturing are now the fastest-growing sectors in the state’s labor market ”“ a very good sign.”
Pete Gioia, economic adviser at the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, welcomed the data. “All of this is positive news,” he said. “We”™ve now recovered 111 percent of the private sector jobs lost during the recession, and year-over-year, we”™ve added nearly 20,000 private sector jobs and 15,000 total jobs. These are pretty good numbers.”
However, Gioia also pointed out that Connecticut”™s unemployment rate was the highest in New England. “This is a very optimistic, very positive report, but policymakers will have to be vigilant to ensure that we stay on the right track,” he added.
