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September 15, 2022

CT adds 2,900 jobs in August as unemployment rate increases amid expanding labor force

HBJ FILE PHOTO The state Capitol building.
By Greg Bordonaro

Connecticut continued to add jobs in the month of August, but the pace of growth slowed while the unemployment rate rose.

Despite the state adding 2,900 jobs last month, the unemployment rose from 3.7% to 4.1% because more people entered the labor force in search of work. 

That could be a positive sign for Connecticut employers struggling to find workers. There were 105,000 job openings in the state at the end of June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a factor holding back economic growth.

The national unemployment rate is 3.7%.

Labor officials also said they revised July’s job gains upward by 2,200 positions to 8,700 new jobs. 

The private sector added 5,100 jobs in August across a wide range of industries, while the government sector shed 2,200 jobs, according to DOL.
 
Despite the growth, Connecticut still has only recovered 87.9% of the 289,400 jobs lost during March and April 2020, when the pandemic temporarily shut down significant parts of the state’s economy. The private sector is 91.2% recovered from the April 2020 COVID employment trough.

And Connecticut’s labor market still lags behind national trends.

Nationally, July of this year marked the full recovery of all jobs lost during the pandemic, nearly two and a half years after it began. 

In August, seven of the 10 major industry supersectors generated employment gains, while two declined.

The sectors that gained jobs included:

  • Professional and Business Services +1,600, 0.7%, 221,500
  • Educational and Health Services +1,000, 0.3%, 339,100
  • Manufacturing +900, 0.6%, 160,600
  • Construction and Mining +700, 1.1%, 62,200
  • Information +600, 2.0%, 30,700
  • Trade, Transportation & Utilities +400, 0.1%, 297,900
  • Other Services +200, 0.3%, 60,500
  • Financial Activities unchanged, 0.0%, 118,600

The sectors that lost jobs included: 

  • Government -2,200, -1.0%, 225,100
  • Leisure and Hospitality -300, -0.2%, 147,700

 

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