Leisure drives Conn. jobs gains
June sees finance employment numbers drop, however
With the latest official jobless figures again underestimating the actual number of people out of work, Connecticut’s labor commissioner cautioned Thursday of some workers having to cycle in and out of jobs in the coming weeks and months as employers struggle to regain momentum.
Connecticut’s official unemployment rate dropped to 9.8 percent as estimated by Department of Labor surveys, versus an 11.1 percent rate nationally. The Connecticut Department of Labor acknowledged Thursday the true number is significantly higher, however, given the numbers of people drawing unemployment compensation who are not being captured in ongoing survey sampling.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor counted more than 255,000 people in Connecticut receiving unemployment compensation as of the first week of July, resulting in an insured unemployment rate of about 15.2 percent of the state’s population who are available to work.
Commissioner Kurt Westby said the Connecticut Department of Labor’s own numbers show closer to 300,000 people drawing ongoing jobless benefits, with his research staff projecting June unemployment of 16 percent or 17 percent.
DOL has paid out $3.8 billion in state and federal unemployment benefits retroactive to February, with more than $6 billion more in federal funding supporting businesses that are keeping people on the payroll through the Paycheck Protection Program that forgives loans if layoffs do not ensue.
Westby acknowledged unemployment could climb as any businesses opt to pull out of PPP on fears their revenues will not rebound to levels prior to the pandemic. DOL served notice this week of expectations for a “higher claim load” in its words for both initial and continuing claims for benefits, without providing specifics.
“I think there’s a big risk of that,” Westby said during a Thursday conference call. “We are processing easily 3,000 applications a day and approving most of those applications. People are going on [unemployment] and people are going off — this is going to be the new normal for a while.”
‘Have to wait a little bit longer’
On June 17, Gov. Ned Lamont authorized a resumption of indoor dining and other entertainment like movies at half capacity, and leisure sector employment began bouncing back with DOL estimating a recovery of nearly 22,000 jobs for a 26 percent gain from the totals in May, based on its ongoing surveys.
But that statistic could be