Connecticut’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.4 percent last month as nonfarm jobs reached a new recovery high point. The September jobless rate was down 0.2 percent from August and lower by 1.3 percent from September 2013, when it was 7.7 percent.
The unemployment rate last month was the lowest it has been in the state since November 2008, according to a state Department of Labor report. The number of unemployed residents declined by 23,682 from September 2013 to September 2014. The number of unemployed last month was 119,842.
“September employment numbers are very encouraging, with strong gains in estimated payroll employment,” Andy Condon, director of the Labor Department’s Office of Research, said in a statement. “Some of this gain was expected, especially in local public education and leisure and hospitality, where seasonal shifts may have been missed in August.
Condon added that Connecticut’s nonfarm employment level and unemployment rate are back to late 2008 levels.
The state’s nonfarm employment level was 1,679,200 last month, reaching a new recovery high point and up by 26,100 jobs so far in 2014.
The state added 11,500 nonfarm jobs and lost 2,400 of them last month. The job loss number is down by 1,200 positions compared with August, when the state reported 3,600 job losses.
