Connecticut added an estimated 300 jobs in April, according to the state Department of Labor, which also reported Thursday that its estimate of 1,300 jobs lost in March has been changed to 300 jobs gained, an upward revision of 1,600 jobs.

The state's unemployment rate in April was 3.8 percent, down a tenth of a percentage point from the revised figure for March and down five-tenths of a point from the previous April, the department said.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 3.6 percent last month.

"With the small increase in April and the larger positive revision of March data, the 2019 job growth picture has changed from one of slight declines to slight growth," Andy Condon, director of the labor department's Office of Research, said in a statement. "Annual job growth is actually stronger than last year at this time, as the first four months of 2018 were very weak."

In the past 12 months, the state has added 11,600 jobs.

"This is positive and welcomed news, but we cannot afford to take our foot off the gas," Gov. Ned Lamont said of the April jobs numbers. "When I speak with business leaders large and small, all across our state, I hear the same refrain: shore up our budget and fix up our transportation system. We have the opportunity to do both this session, and I urge our legislature to make the smart choices to pass a balanced, gimmick-free budget and create a reliable and sustainable revenue source for our state's transportation system to give businesses in our state the confidence to stay and grow, and allow us to attract other ones here."

Connecticut has recovered 82 percent of the 120,300 seasonally adjusted jobs it lost during the Great Recession, defined as the period from March 2008 through January 2010.

Donald Klepper-Smith, the DataCore Partners analyst who comments on the state's monthly labor reports, said in his newsletter Thursday that the April numbers were "essentially ho hum, and in line with expectations," though it was "helpful" to see the upward revision in March jobs.

Still, he said, the state's loss of 1,500 jobs since December is cause for concern.

"As has been stated in recent newsletters, the odds are that both Connecticut and the nation are apt to be encountering a full-blown national recession prior to full job recovery in Connecticut, which raises serious questions about the state's fiscal health over the near-term," Klepper-Smith said.

The labor department reported that private-sector employment was up by 500 jobs in April, while the government "supersector" — federal, state and local government, including public higher education, and Native American casino employment on tribal lands — lost 200 jobs.

Five of the 10 major industry supersectors gained employment, led by professional and business services, which added 1,600 jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities added 700 jobs, while education and health picked up 600 jobs and leisure and hospitality grew by 400 jobs.

Construction and mining led the supersectors that declined, shedding 2,300 jobs. A possible factor, the labor department said, was "the cold, wet spring" that delayed the start of construction season.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com