Connecticut gained 1,300 net jobs in March, a 0.1 percent increase, but the unemployment rate also increased by 0.1 percent to 4.8 percent, the third time this year it has gone up, according to the state Department of Labor.
Year over year, nonagricultural employment in the state grew by 1,600 jobs, or a tenth of a percent, according to payroll data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
State labor officials also revised upward February’s jobs numbers, saying the state actually added 100 jobs rather than lost 1,600.
The state’s nonfarm employment stood at 1,685,400 in March, while the number of Connecticut residents who were unemployed increased by 2,368, seasonally adjusted. The number of employed people grew by 8,061 in March, the DOL said.
The DOL noted that even with March”™s 4.8 percent unemployment, the figure was still six-tenths of a point better than it was in March 2016.
Connecticut Business & Industry Association Economist Pete Gioia noted that in percentage terms, job growth remains the slowest of the New England states. Connecticut has now recovered 77 percent of the total jobs lost during the recession.
“Our job growth has improved, but it”™s still behind that of other states,” Gioia said. “We are moving in the right direction, and now it’s time to pick up the pace to catch up with regional and national growth.”
