Hiring picks up in March

Increase in new jobs aided by acceleration of COVID-19 vaccine

Employers added 5,400 jobs in March, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday, as hiring accelerated with broad distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Connecticut has now recovered 176,400 jobs, or 60.3% of employment lost a year ago as the Lamont administration ordered businesses shut due to the coronavirus pandemic. The unemployment rate fell to 8.3% from 8.5% in February.

Nationally, the jobless rate in March was 6%.

The U.S. Department of Labor also reported Thursday that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to 576,000, the lowest since COVID-19 began its sweep.

“Jobs have now increased for three consecutive months and growth has accelerated,” said Patrick Flaherty, acting research director at the Connecticut Department of Labor.

Growth was broad-based, with the biggest gains in education and health care as schools reopen and hospitals return to elective surgeries and other services. Job gains also were posted in construction, manufacturing, accommodation and food service and finance and insurance.

Commissioner Kurt Westby said retail jobs, among the most damaged as a result of COVID-19, have gained back nearly 84% of those lost.

“Things are going in the right direction,” he said.

Connecticut’s rate of vaccination doses is among the highest in the U.S., with 73,277 doses per 100,000 population, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only NewHampshire and NewMexico posted higher rates.

The number does not reflect the residency of those receiving the vaccine, but where they received it, the CDC said.

jobs have been growing through

out 2021. employers have been trying to hire folks, but can’t find

the number of unemployed people still remains extremely high.

Where employers hired: Private-sector employment grew by 5,000 jobs and government, which includes federal, state and municipal agencies, schools and the two Native American casinos in southeast Connecticut, added 400 jobs.

Education and health services: 5,400

Leisure and hospitality: 1,600 Construction and mining: 1,100 Manufacturing: 700

Financial activities: 600 Government: 400

Sectors that lost jobs: Professional and business services: 2,600

Trade, transportation and utilities: 2,100

Information: 100

The size of Connecticut’s labor force: The state labor force numbered 1.58 million in March, down 103,000 from March 2020 and down even more steeply from a peak 1.7 million in December 2018.

How Connecticut’s cities did in March hiring: Five of the six Connecticut labor market areas posted employment increases in March: The New Haven market added 5,500 jobs, the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk labor market added 1,100 jobs and the Norwich—New London—Westerly labor market increased by 900 jobs.

The Danbury labor market was up by 200 jobs and the Waterbury area added 100 jobs.

The Hartford labor market lost 200 jobs.