Wethersfield (AP) — Connecticut labor officials say employers added 1,000 jobs in May, adding to the strongest five-month start of a year in employment gains since a jobs recovery began in 2010.

The Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8 percent.

The employment gain in May followed an increase of 6,400 jobs in April.

The number of jobs has increased in Connecticut in four of the first five months of 2013. Employment fell only in February when businesses closed or were otherwise impaired by a massive snow storm that blanketed the Northeast.

Andy Condon, research director at the state labor agency, said the automatic federal budget cuts that took effect early this year could hamper job growth for the remainder of the year.