Connecticut”™s unemployment rate improved even after it lost 500 jobs in September, according to the state Department of Labor.
The DOL reported 3,300 nonfarm jobs gained in August, three times that initially reported, which pushed the unemployment rate down by one-tenth of a point to 4.2 percent.
“Despite the drop of 500 jobs in September, Connecticut”™s labor market appears strong,” said DOL Office of Research Director Andy Condon, noting that the state has added nearly 20,000 positions so far this year. “Only the trade, information and government super-sectors show annual job losses,” Condon said.
According to the labor department, the state now has recovered 107,100 of the 119,100 jobs, or 89.9 percent of the positions lost in the last recession, which ran from March 2008 through February 2010. The private sector is at 113.9 percent of where it stood before the recession.
“This month”™s labor situation report again demonstrates that we are sustaining important momentum in our long-term effort to increase employment in Connecticut,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said.
“While it”™s easy to get distracted by short-term gains and losses, doing so risks missing the important bigger picture,” Malloy said. “When we lose sight of the significant progress made in our recovery, people become susceptible to false narratives. The reality is that businesses and people are not leaving the state in droves. They”™re deciding to set down roots and call Connecticut home because they understand that this is a great place to work, live, grow a business and raise a family.”
Connecticut Business and Industry Association Economic Adviser Pete Gioia noted that the 4.2 percent unemployment rate is still the highest in the region, “so we have a mixed picture because despite growth, we see continued volatility in job numbers and a real need for stability.”
Gioia noted strong monthly gains in the construction, manufacturing and financial activities sectors. “For the first time this year, financial activities is in the black and that”™s important,” he said. “We won”™t gain our full economic strength until we have our two powerhouses ”” financial activities and manufacturing ”” really going strong.”
