Employment in Connecticut has risen for the fourth consecutive month, according to the state Department of Labor”™s May jobs report. The state gained 5,800 jobs in May, the most recent month for which data are available.
Despite a steady uptick in job creation throughout the Danbury and Bridgeport-Stamford labor market areas, the state has only recovered 60 percent of jobs lost during the recession. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.9 percent from April to May.
But a flat unemployment rate is not necessarily a negative sign, said Peter Gioia, economist at the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. The number could also be an indication that more people are coming back into the labor force to look for jobs.
“The unemployment rate is not just a reflection of people who are not employed, but it”™s also an indication that people are looking for employment,” Gioia said. “If you”™re discouraged and don”™t want to look for work, then you don”™t even get counted in the unemployment numbers. People are now coming back into the labor force looking for work because they think they have a reasonable chance of getting it.”
The Bridgeport-Stamford and Danbury labor market areas have added a combined 6,500 jobs from May 2013 to May this year. The two labor markets lost 400 jobs from April to May this year. Part of the reason is that the financial services sector has lost 900 jobs and construction and mining remained weak, losing 800 jobs in May alone, Gioia said. The state”™s overall year-over-year report showed 12,500 jobs have been added from last May to this May.
Manufacturing remained flat in the two labor markets with less job activity in Danbury compared with the Bridgeport-Stamford area, Gioia said.
The administrative and support staff category added 3,400 jobs in May, while food services gained 1,900 jobs that same month.
Education and health services added 1,600 jobs, reflecting the changing demographics and implementation of the Affordable Care Act as more people receive health insurance and more people who are elderly have more intensive medical requirements, Gioia said. Transportation, warehousing, utilities, regional trade and information technology have seen steady job gains, too.
Employment in the mortgage, hospitality and retail sectors could see gains with the announcement of businesses coming and expanding into Fairfield County.
Guaranteed Rate, a mortgage lender, added three offices, creating 40 new jobs, some of which will be placed in Norwalk. EVEN Hotel recently opened in Norwalk and employed 35 people. Last month, Vineyard Vines, a clothing retailer in Stamford, announced plans to expand and hire 200 more employees over the next five years.
Meanwhile, Fairfield has seen some job losses in the banking and health sectors.
Citizen Bank recently announced it will reduce its workforce in Bridgeport by 125 people from August to October; and Purdue Pharma L.P., a pharmaceutical company in Stamford, announced it will cut 59 workers starting in August.
“What you”™re seeing here is some expansion and some reduction going on,” Gioia said. “Basically, what that means is that the economy is starting to return to normal. But it”™s still got a ways to go. We”™re still looking at another year and a half of continued moderate to good performance to get us back.”