State economy ended 2018 on upswing

Connecticut’s economy closed out 2018 with a flourish, adding 1,100 jobs in December and shaving one-tenth of a percentage point off the unemployment rate, according to data released Thursday by the state Department of Labor.

The state’s unemployment rate fell to 4.0 percent, just one-tenth of a percentage point above the national jobless rate. And Connecticut officials got some additional good news: The original November report of 500 jobs lost has been revised upward by 1,500 to a net gain of 1,000 jobs.

Andy Condon, director of the Office of Research for the labor department, said the December data “ends the year on a high note.”

“Preliminary numbers indicate that we saw job growth in almost every major industry sector in the state’s labor market,” Condon said in a statement. But he cautioned the federal Bureau of Labor will release its annual benchmark revisions to to the state’s job numbers in March “and we have seen significant downward revisions in recent years.”

The biggest employment gain among Connecticut’s industry sectors came from construction and mining, where 2,100 workers were added, and in education, which saw an increase of 1,100 employees. The biggest employment loss among industry sectors came in professional and business services, with 1,800 jobs lost, while other services saw a decline of 500 jobs.

Connecticut’s manufacturing sector lost 300 jobs in December, according to state labor officials.

Three of the state’s six labor market areas saw employment gains in December.

The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk labor market area added 1,000 jobs last month. The New Haven labor market area added 400 jobs, and businesses in the Waterbury area added 100.

Southeastern Connecticut’s labor market area, which cover Norwich, New London and Westerly, R.I., lost 300 jobs last month, as did businesses in the Hartford area. The Danbury area lost 100 jobs last

month.

Two of the state’s top economists said the December employment gains were better than expected.

Peter Gioia, an economic adviser for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said the employment gains were “some of the best numbers we’ve seen in a long while.

“The private sector’s growth of 23,500 is the best number we’ve seen since 1998 when we gained 25,800 jobs,” Gioia said. With last month’s employment data factored in, Connecticut has recovered about 93 percent of the 119,100 jobs lost in the recession, he said.

Donald Klepper-Smith,

chief economist and director of research for New Haven-based DataCore Partners, said the state added 5,100 jobs over the last three months of 2018.

“It represents a departure from previous three years,” Klepper-Smith said. “It was considerably stronger than expected.”

But both men warned there are potential issues that could derail Connecticut’s year-end gains.

“The tariff situation is still a concern, there’s volatility in the markets, and the government shutdown may have an effect on many industries,” Gioia said. “More importantly, we’re at the beginning of this legislative session, and lawmakers must do what they can to accelerate growth, not slow it down with bad policy decisions.”

Klepper-Smith pointed to the shutdown’s potential economic impact.

“We have 2.8 million federal workers and those are sizable numbers ... if you take into account that those are people who have bills to pay,” Klepper-Smith said. “When people don’t get paid and that money doesn’t circulate through the economy, it puts downside pressure on the economy. Every job counts in this economy, every dollar counts.”