LABOR REPORT SAYS CONNECTICUT LOST 400 NET JOBS IN FEBRUARY R.I. HIRES ‘MARIJUANA CZAR’ TO OVERSEE LEGALIZATION EFFORT

Wethersfield — A state report shows Connecticut lost 400 net jobs in February, an estimate that comes weeks after revised figures dramatically cut the state’s 2018 job gains.

The Department of Labor’s monthly report, released Thursday, shows the state’s February 3.8 percent unemployment rate remains unchanged from January. It’s the same as the national unemployment rate.

While Andy Condon, director of the agency’s Office of Research, describes the February job loss as a “small decline,” he notes how “January’s final revision was sharply down from our preliminary release.” He says that’s due partly to more data becoming available and corrected job employment estimates in the construction industry.

Federal labor economists scaled back Connecticut’s 2018 job growth figures to an increase of 10,000 jobs from an initial report of nearly 20,000 jobs.

Providence — Rhode Island has hired the “marijuana czar” to oversee an effort by lawmakers to legalize the recreational use of pot.

Andrew Freedman tells WPRI-TV that his consulting firm Freedman & Koski will review various details of legalization, from testing protocols to licensing.

The state has agreed to pay the firm $90,000 for 2019 as part of its contract that began Jan. 10.

Freedman was dubbed the “czar” after his work overseeing Colorado’s marijuana program.

He says he agrees with Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s proposal to ban home growing for recreational use and reduce the home growing limit for medical marijuana from 12 plants to six.

He says Rhode Island’s bill is the “best bill in the nation.”