Connecticut’s economy added 1,600 jobs in April, state Department of Labor officials said Thursday, as the state’s unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent.
The 0.2 percent drop brings the state’s unemployment rate to its lowest level since the pandemic began in March 2020. Connecticut’s unemployment rate at the time was 3.4 percent.
Thursday’s job news for Connecticut wasn’t all positive. The number of new jobs created in March has been revised to 3,700 from a previously reported 4,600, ministry officials said.
Labor Department commissioner Dante Bartolomeo said the latest economic data “shows that all market indicators continue to move in the right direction — jobs are being added, unemployment is falling and fewer people are filing for unemployment benefits.” Weekly job claims in the state hit a historic 16,800 job claims Lows, Bartolomeo said.
“Now is the time for job seekers to take advantage of this job market — there are 100,000 active jobs in Connecticut across all industries,” she said.
Patrick Flaherty, research director for the state Department of Labor, said Connecticut employers are still seeing a high turnover rate as people leave their jobs for better jobs.
“(It’s) good for the job market but tough for employers,” Flaherty said.
The largest employment gains in April were in leisure and hospitality – which includes restaurants, hotels, arts, entertainment and leisure businesses – and manufacturing. Last month, 3,000 jobs were added in the leisure and hospitality sectors, while manufacturing companies added 1,000 to their payrolls.
The trade, transport and utilities sectors lost 1,200 jobs in April, while there were 1,000 fewer workers in the information sector last month.
An executive at Connecticut’s largest business organization said the state’s economic recovery is slow.
Eric Gjede, vice president of public policy at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said the state’s year-to-date job growth is 0.7 percent, which is “half the national rate and the slowest in the New England region.”
“The slow, uncertain pace of our recovery must be addressed with meaningful political solutions by the candidates for governor and general assembly on the campaign trail this year,” Gjede said. “At this rate, we won’t recover all the jobs lost to pandemic-related shutdowns and restrictions for at least another 18 months – and that’s assuming recession fears don’t materialize. Our recovery remains fragile.”
Fred Carstensen, a professor of finance and economics at the University of Connecticut, said the Labor Department’s report was misleading because it didn’t address the full extent of how many jobs were lost.
“In March 2008 we had 73,208 more jobs than today,” said Carstensen. “They don’t remind people how far we still have to go. Since 2008 we have lost many high quality jobs and gained many low quality jobs.”
To illustrate his point, Carstensen noted that the biggest job gains in April were in the leisure and hospitality sectors.
“Many of these jobs are either low-paying or seasonal positions,” he said. “The fact that we’ve added 1,000 manufacturing jobs is encouraging as many of these positions are well paid and full-time.”
Carstensen said what is troubling about the state’s economic situation is that political leaders are not addressing how to fix the problems.
“There’s not a lot here to suggest how we’re going to change course from the current one,” he said.
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