Connecticut gained 100 net jobs in November, bringing employment to a level of 1,700,400 seasonally adjusted, according to new data from the state Department of Labor.
The Labor Department also revised the November job gain of 900 up to a new total of 1,600. The number of the state”™s unemployed residents was estimated at 72,000, seasonally adjusted, up 1,000 from November. As a result, Connecticut”™s December unemployment rate is at 3.7%, seasonally adjusted, unchanged from the revised November level.
Private-sector employment grew by 300 to 1,465,300 jobs over the month in December, up by 5,500 seasonally-adjusted jobs over December 2018. The government supersector shed 200 jobs last month at a total of 235,100, and is down 1,900 jobs on a year-over-year basis.
Within Fairfield County, the labor market in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk corridor recorded a 1,900-job increase while the Danbury area was unchanged from the previous month.
“The December report gives us a first look at the year”™s job growth performance,” said Andy Condon, director of the Office of Research at the Labor Department. “Our preliminary annual average job growth in Connecticut shows we added a modest 7,400 total nonfarm jobs over 2018 levels.”
Pete Gioia, economic adviser with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, was not impressed with the December job gain, calling it “a fairly weak number, especially when you compare it to the region and the country.” He was also pessimistic about the year-end tally for job creation.
“If you take a look at the annual numbers, we added 700 manufacturing jobs, which is positive, but given the needs of that industry, we should be adding 7,000 jobs,” he said. “In financial activities, another high-paying sector, we added 600 jobs. Which again, is better than a loss, but that should have been 6,000 new jobs. It”™s time for us to get our economy in gear and policymakers have to do things that help us get there.”
