State loses 5,200 jobs in September
In what one economist termed a “simply horrible” report, the state Department of Labor released September job numbers Thursday that showed a reduction of 5,200 positions in Connecticut during the month — the third successive monthly reduction in jobs statewide.
The Norwich-New London area lost 1,000 jobs in the latest report, which nevertheless saw a drop in the state’s unemployment rate to 5.4 percent. In the past year, the region has seen 200 jobs lost during a time when southeastern Connecticut continues to lag the state in terms of positions regained after the Great Recession.
Also, last month’s report of 300 job gains statewide in August was revised downward in the latest report to 300 jobs lost.
“It’s time to completely reassess our state economic development strategies because we’re lagging all other New England states in the key area of job recovery,” said economist Don Klepper-Smith of DataCore Partners, one-time chief of the Economic Advisory Council under Gov. M. Jodi Rell.
Klepper-Smith said in a note to clients that the new numbers “indicate that the Connecticut economy is now backtracking amidst the high-profile loss of General Electric and associated fallout.”
The Connecticut Business & Industry Association noted that job gains statewide now amount to only 76 percent of those lost during the Great Recession. In New England, the only other state that hasn’t regained all its lost jobs is Maine at 84 percent, CBIA said.
“We may now take over two more years to fully recover from the Great Recession, which is very problematic,” CBIA economist Pete Gioia said in a statement.
Andy Condon, chief of the Office of Research at the Labor Department, said only that the jobs numbers indicate that “market signs are mixed” and pointed to the fact that this was the first time this year that a three-month average of jobs had shown a decline.
The biggest area of jobs decline occurred in the government sector, which lost 2,500 positions and includes positions tied to the two local casinos. It appears, however, that state government losses accounted for most of the jobs backslide, with 2,900 cuts in this area alone.
“It appears that state government layoffs and retirements are finally showing up in the data,” the report said.
Leisure and hospitality had its usual seasonal losses, declining by 1,500 jobs in September.
The only areas to see gains were trade, transportation and utilities, up by 1,200 jobs, and professional and business services, which gained 900 positions. Eight other sectors all saw losses.
“This emphasizes the fact that the economy must be job number one for candidates running for General Assembly,” the CBIA’s Gioia said.
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