Slow jobs growth
State has recovered 60% of jobs lost to pandemic, but growth is slow.
The pace of job growth in Connecticut slowed in September as employers struggle to fill the huge hole in the labor force brought on by the coronavirus, the Connecticut Department of Labor reported Monday.
“Even with overall job gains slower than in the previous four months, Connecticut has now recovered more than 60% of the 291,300 jobs lost during the March-April 2020 onset of the COVID19 pandemic,” said Patrick Flaherty, acting director of the Labor Department’s research office.
Employers created 17,000 jobs in September, fewer than the 21,900 jobs created in August and the 32,300 in July. A total of, 77,300 were created in June and 28,400 in May. The state hit bottom in
March and April when employers shed nearly 300,000 jobs as Gov. Ned Lamont ordered businesses shut to limit the spread of the virus.
Peter Gioia, chief economist at PGEcon LLC, said jobs are returning unevenly, reflecting differences between industries. Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, for example, announced last week it will lay off 450 salaried workers in Connecticut in response to a steep downturn in commercial aviation that’s not expected to improve significantly for a few years.
Restaurants are back in business, but at a smaller capacity and outdoor seating will be iffy as cold weather approaches, Gioia said.
“I think we will see positive job numbers for the foreseeable future,” he said. “It could be April or May before we hit the numbers we saw in March.”
Economist Donald Klepper-Smith of DataCore Partners LLC said
Connecticut’s labor force could be down 5% for the year, a steeper drop than the 4% fall in 2009 during the Great Recession.
“Are we going to get to our prior peak anytime soon?” he said. “I don’t think so.”
The official unemployment rate in Connecticut last month was estimated at 7.8%, down from 8.1% in August. The US jobless rate was 7.9%, down a half-percentage point from August.
The state Labor Department said Connecticut’s jobless rate “continues to be underestimated due to challenges encountered in the collection of data.” State labor economists believe the more accurate unemployment rate was 12% to 13% in September.
The state says in addition to a poor response rate in a small sample size, key questions continue to be misinterpreted and misclassified.
“Specifically, a significant number of respondents whoshould have been classified as temporarily out of work and therefore unemployed were instead classified as employed, but away from work (e.g., sick),” the agency said.
Two of the hardest hit sectors, wholesale and retail trade, have recovered by more than 90% and 70% respectively. Financial activities and construction and mining lost jobs in September.
Four of Connecticut’s six labor market areas — Bridgeport- Stamford Norwalk, NorwichNew London-Westerly, R.I., Hartford and New Haven — posted employment increases in September. Jobs receded in the Danbury labor market and was unchanged in Waterbury.
Private sector employment increased by 14,700 and government, which includes the two tribal-owned casinos, added 2,300 net jobs in September.