December continued a low activity trend for the job market in Fairfield County, with a modest 2 percent increase in job posting activity. This continues a softness trend that started in May, indicating the market remains stuck in neutral.
Some key items of note regarding December:
· Stamford led all towns in the county with the most jobs posted, followed by Norwalk and Greenwich.
· The industries most actively hiring in the past month were accounting, financial services and nonprofit.
· Top job categories were administrative, accountancy and customer support.
As we enter 2014 the picture locally is a bit less optimistic than that nationally. The national unemployment figures released in early January suggest a continued level of modest improvement and therefore something of a trend toward recovery. Fairfield County continues a disturbing trend, seemingly limping along with modest-at-best gains, a trend we”™ve seen since May 2013. Past economic dips and softness have ended in the last 20 years with the emergence of a “hot” industry. In the late ”™90s it was the dotcoms. In the early 2000s it was financial services. In 2013 and leading into 2014 there has been no clear industry to help lead the job market to palpable recovery.
To add to the general malaise of the market we now also continue to see reports that strongly suggest Connecticut is a place to leave as an employer vs. a place to stay, grow or build. Data compiled and reported by the likes of CNBC, Business Week and even service providers like Atlas Van Lines all suggest that businesses in the state, as well as residents, are moving elsewhere. Further, state policies, laws, regulations and taxes continue to act as a deterrent to expansion, investment and overall market development. If CT is going to truly generate some positive job market momentum then the state must figure out how to address these myriad issues with measurable results.
So what should we expect in 2014? I would argue more of the same. This is an election year for the governor”™s office, which suggests that any major changes or initiatives are likely to not arrive until 2015. That leaves our best avenues for growth coming out of an emerging hot industrial player. The best chance would, therefore, be in the tech sector, where doing business in New York City is expensive with the next best recent alternative, Brooklyn, following close behind in cost. That means Fairfield County could see some of those established firms and startups make their way up to Stamford and the Gold Coast. Fingers crossed. Time will tell.
David Lewis is president/CEO of FairfieldCountyJobs.com, a regional job board with more than 100,000 visitors per month to view jobs from over 4,000 area employers. His monthly reports talk to the condition of the job market as measured by data from his websites as well as data from state, federal and industry sources in the public domain. The website is FairfieldCountyJobs.com.
