The Fairfield County region lost 1,700 jobs in December and 5,100 positions for all of 2008, according to new estimates by the Connecticut Department of Labor, a milder blow than many had feared ”“ if an accurate depiction of still-dim labor market conditions.
The state Labor Department makes its estimates based in part on a limited number of employer surveys; county-level statistics are not adjusted for seasonal considerations. Unemployment estimates are made separately based on household surveys.
Employment in lower Fairfield County dropped by just 0.3 percent in December, and the unemployment rate held steady at 6 percent. Along with New Haven, the Gold Coast was the lone region in Connecticut to dodge an increase in the unemployment rate. Waterbury was the only metropolitan area not to shed jobs, with New London losing just 100 in December, though New London County is bracing itself for job cuts at Pfizer”™s giant research facility in Groton following the drug maker”™s $68 billion acquisition offer for drug maker Wyeth.
The Danbury area”™s job total dropped by 0.8 percent, and the unemployment rate there ticked up a basis point to 5.1 percent.
Due to Fairfield County”™s proximity to Wall Street, economists have spent the latter half of the year predicting the region would fare worse than other parts of the state, which the data suggest has yet to occur. The area is still bracing for the impact of job cuts at General Electric Co., however, the second largest employer in the area with more than 6,000 workers at last report.
Statewide, Connecticut shed 11,500 jobs in December, and the U.S. Department of Labor revised the state”™s November job losses upward by nearly double its previous estimates to 9,800 jobs. While average weekly wages fell slightly statewide from November, average pay was up nearly 1 percent from a year earlier.
“This revision to the November preliminary estimate was unusually large not only in Connecticut, but also in many other states,” said John Tirinzonie, an economist with the Connecticut Department of Labor, in written comments. “We now have seen employment drop by 25,200 within the last quarter of 2008, or 86 percent of the total number of jobs lost for the entire year.”
The new figures raised the state”™s unemployment rate in December to 7.1 percent, just below the national unemployment rate of 7.2 percent. In November, the unemployment rate was 6.6 percent, and in December 2007 it stood at 4.8 percent.
For the year, Connecticut lost 29,300 jobs, with the retail sector taking the largest hit on a numerical basis in losing 11,200 positions. That was more than double the job losses suffered by construction and manufacturing.
As measured by a percentage drop, the arts and entertainment industry suffered by far the worst carnage in 2008, as the industry contracted employment by nearly 14 percent; by comparison, the retail sector lost just under 6 percent of its job total.
Companies providing various professional and business services ”“ from scientific analysis to garbage pickup ”“ trimmed back their workforce by 1,500 positions to settle at 201,300 jobs, the lowest level of employment the sector has seen in nearly three years.
The health care and social services sectors continue to thrive, however, adding 4,100 jobs statewide in December for a 1.7 percent growth rate.
