At Phase 3, state crosses jobs milestone
Key unemployment statistic drops below 10 percent
For the first time since March when Gov. Ned Lamont shut down large swaths of the Connecticut economy as a guard against coronavirus transmission, the number of laid-off workers receiving unemployment compensation has dropped below 10 percent of the state’s available pool.
In mid-September, the Connecticut Department of Labor had reported an 8.1 percent unemployment rate, while cautioning that mass layoffs spurred by the CO
VID-19 pandemic are likely skewing survey results used to calculate the figure. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor disclosed a
9.8 percent “insured unemployment” rate that reflects the actual count of people receiving unemployment, though leaving out more than 50,000 self-employed people like independent contractors and gigeconomy workers who are receiving benefits.
Since a $600 weekly bo
nus for unemployment recipients expired entering August — President Donald Trump subsequently signed off on a $300 weekly bonus while Congress negotiates an aid package — Connecticut has seen more than 90,000 people come off unemployment on a net basis through the last week of September. That represented a 36 percent decline from eight weeks earlier and marked the first time since March that fewer than 200,000 furloughed Connecticut workers were receiving jobless benefits.
On Thursday, a “phase three” stage of reopening kicked off under Lamont’s authorization, with Connecticut restaurants allowed now to seat 75 percent of their indoor capacity, up from a 50 percent ceiling that had been in place since June.
“If you want to stay open, you’ve got to follow the [health] protocols,” Lamont said Wednesday in Hartford. “You’ve got to make sure that everyone ... is taking it seriously.”
Restaurants and hotels remain the single hardesthit sector in Connecticut, with more than 32,000 workers receiving unemployment benefits as of mid-September according to the most recent finalized figures from the state Department of Labor. The American Hotel & Lodging Association reported last week that Connecticut venues could shed an additional 8,000 jobs or more if no federal assistance is in the offing.
On Thursday, the head of the Connecticut Restaurant Association said he continues to hear nearly daily of the demise of a restaurant, bar or caterer, saying the expansion of indoor dining is badly needed as nights grow colder. He is hopeful the new phase will spur an additional round of hiring in the sector.
“I know 85,000-plus went on unemployment,” said Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association. “The expansion of outdoor dining helped bring people back to work. ... You have to have the guests, and that’s what I’m hopeful for.”
Dolch said caterers will be getting a boost as well, with up to 100 people now allowed at indoors events.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of corporate holiday parties, but [restaurants] have started to get a lot of phone calls about people trying to have larger family parties or gatherings in spaces where they feel comfortable because it’s [ just] them,” Dolch said. “That obviously reflects in turn growth in staff to run those events. ... That’s the one thing we want more than anything — our staff, in our industry, are family.”
Still, the food service industry recovered jobs over the summer at a faster clip than several other industries, including, the finance and insurance sector. Finance firms have generated the smallest rebound from peak unemployment levels, with only about 11 percent of those out of work having come off jobless benefits over the past two months, as reported by the state Department of Labor.