HARTFORD, CT — Connecticut’s economy added an estimated 7,000 jobs in June, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In May, Connecticut gained 5,600 jobs. That’s five months of job growth out of the last nine months and it means Connecticut could see a full job recovery in 2018.
Connecticut’s unemployment rate also ticked up one tenth of a percentage point to 5.0 percent.
“June showed another sharp increase in payroll jobs over May and private sector jobs have now completely recovered from the 2008-10 employment recession, although these numbers are preliminary and subject to revision,” Andy Condon, Director of the Office of Research, said.
Connecticut’s private sector has recovered 102 percent of jobs lost during the recession. This is the first net expansion of private sector jobs in 88 months.
“The June jobs report is solid — we’re on track for stronger performance,” CBIA economist Pete Gioia said.
Seven of the 10 major industry supersectors added jobs in June. Financial services added 800 jobs, manufacturing added 200 jobs, and education and health services added 1,200 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 4,400 jobs last month, the most of any of the 10 supersectors.
“It is encouraging to see growth in high-quality jobs in the financial services and manufacturing sectors, because these are the types of jobs we need to improve the revenue situation in the state and to lift other parts of the economy,” Gioia said.
The government supersector, which includes all federal, state and local employment, including public higher education and the Native American casinos located on tribal land, remains the largest source of job losses in 2017. This supersector lost 100 jobs in June and has seen the loss of a total of 21,300 positions since the recession began in March 2008.
The job gains over the past two months mean Connecticut is about 19,100 jobs from attaining full job recovery.
However, not everyone is convinced this means Connecticut will get there before another recession hits.
Don Klepper-Smith, an economist with DataCore Partners in New Haven, said the aggregate data is showing that the Connecticut economy is still posting “bare minimum growth.”
He said with the risk of a recession over the next 12 months means Connecticut’s economy is moving sideways.
“We’re still dealing with the combination of persistent budget problems at the state and local level, waning business confidence, multiple downgrades in the state’s bond rating, a potential bankruptcy within the City of Hartford, and greater levels of overall economic uncertainty, which do not bode well for Connecticut’s job market over the near-term,” Klepper-Smith said. “Add to that the announcement that another marquis employer, Aetna, is now moving their headquarters out of state, and you can see why the near-term DataCore forecast for the Connecticut economy now has the State on ‘recession watch’.”
As always it should be noted that the monthly data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics is based on a sampling with a margin of error under 1 percent. According to CTNewsJunkie’s analysis of the employment data contained in these monthly reports, the employment figures reported each month based on sampling during 2016 were overestimated by an average of 5,425 jobs per month.
