Connecticut employers added an estimated 900 jobs in November, while an increase in the number of unemployed residents caused the state’s unemployment rate to rise to 3.7 percent, up one-tenth of a percentage point over October’s rate, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.

The national unemployment rate in November was 3.5 percent.

In Connecticut, a previously announced loss of 1,500 jobs in October was revised to a loss of 1,400 jobs.

“The November increase of 900 payroll jobs moves us back in the right direction after October’s decline,” Andy Condon, director of the labor department’s Office of Research, said in a statement. “Our three-month moving average job growth figure, designed to smooth out some of the volatility in our monthly numbers, has remained positive since July. However, our annual growth rate in jobs remains very modest.”

Peter Gioia, an economic adviser with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, noted the monthly jobs report shows Connecticut gained 2,800 jobs through the first 11 months of the year.

“That’s only 0.2 percent compared with 1.3 percent on the national level,” he said. “We’re still quite weak. ... If you look at the state's own figures on key economic indicators from 2010 to 2018, Connecticut lags every other state in New England, let alone the U.S. average, particularly in terms of jobs, GDP, and population."

Rhode Island leads the region in jobs growth, increasing employment by 1.8 percent, followed by Massachusetts at 1.2 percent, Maine at 0.9 percent, New Hampshire at 0.6 percent, Vermont at 0.3 percent and Connecticut.

Gioia said a report released Nov. 20 by the state Office of Policy and Management shows Connecticut has regained only 16 percent of the high-paying jobs lost during the 2008-10 recession.

“When you take all this information together, it should send up an enormous red flag for our legislature,” he said. “They've got to concentrate on the economy. They've got to find ways and pass legislation that encourages businesses to invest and create jobs in this state.”

Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist and director of research for DataCore Partners, wrote in a newsletter that the November numbers show the state's labor markets “remain lackluster with little meaningful momentum either up or down.”

“The good news is that we're in positive territory for the year, but given growth elsewhere in the domestic economy, Connecticut remains a laggard both in terms of aggregate growth and its economic development policies,” he said.

The labor department reported that Connecticut's private sector employment grew by 900 jobs in November, while the level of jobs in the government “supersector,” which includes federal, state and local employment, including public higher education and tribal casino jobs, was unchanged.

Jobs were added in professional and business services; education and health services; manufacturing; and other services. Sectors that experienced job losses included trade, transportation and utilities; leisure and hospitality; financial activities; and construction and mining. 

Two of the six labor market areas in the state posted job gains in November, with the Hartford area adding 500 jobs and the Norwich-New London-Westerly area adding 400 jobs. The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area lost 900 jobs, the largest decline of any area.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com