Connecticut Employment Falls 73,600 in 12 Months as Jobless Rate Hits 5.2%
Updated
Updated · CBIA · Aug 20
Connecticut Employment Falls 73,600 in 12 Months as Jobless Rate Hits 5.2%
1 articles · Updated · CBIA · Aug 20
Summary
73,600 jobs disappeared from Connecticut total employment over the past 12 months through July, a 3.9% drop that CBIA said was the steepest one-year decline in 50 years outside the pandemic.
July alone saw total employment fall by 7,100 and the labor force shrink by 6,300, even as payroll jobs recently rose in manufacturing, construction, and education and health services.
Connecticut’s 5.2% unemployment rate now sits 1.1 percentage points above the 4.1% national rate, the widest gap since the pandemic, underscoring what CBIA called a disconnect between payroll growth and household-survey weakness.
CBIA tied the fragility to longer-term pressures including an aging workforce, fewer younger entrants, slower population growth and reduced immigration, warning those trends are straining the state economy.