 
The Fairfield County region lost an estimated 900 jobs between February and March, a lower-than-expected figure that gave some hope for an economic bounce this spring.
Connecticut”™s unemployment rate was 7.5 percent in March, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, with the state shedding an estimated 7,100 jobs. The construction industry has taken by far the largest hit, with work force numbers off more than 20 percent from a year ago.
Still, the state unemployment rate was below that of New York”™s unemployment rate of 7.8 percent and the U.S. jobless rate of 8.5 percent.
The unemployment rate in lower Fairfield County dropped from 7.4 percent in February to 7.2 percent in March, while the Danbury area”™s rate ticked up a basis point to 6.8 percent, still the lowest rate in the state.
“There are some positive signs, both nationally and here in the state, which indicate we are beginning to see a bottoming out of this recession,” said John Tirinzonie, an economist with the Connecticut Department of Labor, in a statement. “At this point, unfortunately, the nation”™s economy seems to lack the consistency needed for any visible recovery to begin.”
At the end of March, nearly 3,500 Connecticut businesses shut down according to Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, the highest quarterly number since her office began tracking the data in 2000. While nearly 7,000 startups were launched during the quarter, that was the lowest figure for a quarter since 2001. According to University of Connecticut economist Fred Carstensen, Connecticut is already the only state in the nation to have fewer businesses today than it had 20 years ago.
The metropolitan New York City area”™s economy continued to contract the past few months amid ongoing weakening in employment, but a number of industries expressed considerably more optimism in the near-term outlook, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“Manufacturing and other firms in the district note movement toward stabilization in business activity, and optimism about the near-term business outlook is substantially more widespread than it has been since last September,” Fed analysts wrote in the mid-April edition of the Beige Book on economic activity. “However, contacts in a broad range of industries report continued contraction in employment at their establishments and most anticipate steady or declining employment levels in the months ahead. Separately, a major New York City employment agency reports that the job market remains exceptionally weak: job postings are few and far between and often quite specialized, while the supply of available workers is described as ”˜inexhaustible.”™”
Commercial real estate markets continue to deteriorate, as credit standards continued to tighten for commercial mortgages and delinquency rates increased. Bridgeport-based People”™s United Financial Inc. reported it had a loan for nearly $17 million enter non-performing status, without specifying further details.
“The rise in (nonperforming loans) is due to the unemployment situation basically,” said Philip Sherringham, CEO of People”™s United, in a conference call last week with investors. “In Connecticut, particularly Fairfield County, (housing prices) have been declining, and what you see is just the logical implication of the fact that we”™re not on an island.”
On the flip side, residential mortgage applications are rising throughout the region, and the commercial office market in Fairfield County and other suburban markets is performing better than in Manhattan, where vacancy rates hit a four-year high in March. Although leasing activity was down nearly 45 percent from a year earlier, according to commercial broker CB Richard Ellis, average asking rents have remained relatively stable.
