Connecticut lost 1,500 net jobs in October to a level of 1,698,800 seasonally adjusted, according to new data from the state”™s Department of Labor.
The Labor Department also revised the September job gain of 3,600 up to a higher total of 4,700. Over the past year, from October 2018 to last month, state-based employers have added 4,800 jobs, increasing Connecticut”™s labor force by 0.3%, according to the Labor Department.
It estimated the number of unemployed residents at 69,500, seasonally adjusted, up 1,300 from September. As a result, the October unemployment rate stood at 3.6%, seasonally adjusted, unchanged from the revised September level.
Private-sector employment fell by 1,000 to 1,463,600 jobs over the month in October, and are now up by 6,500 seasonally adjusted jobs over October 2018. The government supersector shed 500 jobs last month and remains down 1,700 jobs over the year.
Within Fairfield County, the labor market in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk corridor in September added 700 jobs, while the Danbury area saw no statistical change from the previous month.
“The October decline of 1,500 payroll jobs is the first we’ve seen since June and was particularly impacted by the loss of trade jobs,” said Andy Condon, director of the Labor Department’s Office of Research. “The October annual seasonally adjusted growth of 4,800 seems low but the 12-month average gain level of 8,000 jobs is probably closer to the mark.”
Pete Gioia, economic adviser with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, observed that only four of the 10 major industries within the state gained employment in October: construction and mining (1.2%), information (0.6%), manufacturing (0.3%) and leisure and hospitality (0.2%).
“It”™s particularly important that manufacturing continued to gain jobs this month,” Gioia said. “We have seen manufacturing companies receive major contracts that will require thousands of new workers in the future. A continued gain in this area is absolutely vital.”
Nonetheless, Gioia considered the addition of 4,800 jobs over the year as a “fairly tepid number” and insisted that Connecticut needed “to see that number increase dramatically to continue the job gain trend of July, August, and September.”
With unemployment at 3.6%, we should be seeing very aggressive measures to hire people for low-paying, menial jobs — such as unarmed security, fast food, low-end retail… But we’re not seeing this in Connecticut. Maybe somebody in the Labor Department is “cooking the books” and/or not gathering all of the relevant data on the labor force?…
Something is amiss. With a 3.6% unemployment rate, we should be looking for a very tight housing market…. Lots of houses for sale and apartments for rent in the Bridgeport area. Why the contradictory stats?!…
I think that the Lamont Administration is applying feel-good stats analysis to some really dismal job-seeker/unemployment numbers in CT… We all know that the Connecticut economy is the worst performing economy in the country.
It would really be nice to see a real, unbiased survey (conducted by a reputable, unbiased research agency) created to discern the actual number of fully-employed, versus all unemployed/underemployed in Connecticut — including discouraged job seekers no longer on the books, as well retired seniors needing to work but unable to secure employment…
Such “rosy” stats! Something smells fishy in West Denmark (Connecticut)!