State sees loss of 3,400 jobs in Q1

The first quarter of the year hasn’t been great for Connecticut’s job market.

The state dropped 3,400 jobs in three months, according to Thursday reports from the Department of Labor. Connecticut lost 1,300 jobs last month alone, pushing unemployment one-tenth higher than the national rate of 3.8.

DOL also revised the February 2019 job loss numbers of 400 up by 800, reflecting a gain of 400 jobs that month.

Pete Gioia, economic adviser to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, said he was disappointed at the ongoing job decline, attributing the losses to recently approved legislation.

The CBIA has expressed its concerns over paid family and medical leave which was advanced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee this quarter. Gioia said the law would “add significant costs and burdens to employers, particularly small employers across the state.

"How many more jobs do we have to lose before the legislature changes its direction?” he asked.

The private sector shed 1,100 jobs last month while the public sector lost 200.

Construction and mining has continued its decline, dropping

900 jobs; the sector has lost roughly 1,500 jobs over the past three months.

Leisure and hospitality and professional and business services weren’t far behind, dropping

700 and 600 jobs respectively. Connecticut has recovered 80.3 percent of the 120,300 jobs lost from the 2008 recession. The state needs an additional 23,700 net new jobs to rebound fully, ranking last in job recovery in New England, according to the CBIA.

Don Klepper-Smith, an economist who advises Liberty Bank, said in a recent report that March’s numbers were to be expected, calling the latest decline a "softening, and under pressure from a weakening domestic economy."

Klepper-Smith maintained that the state's economy will probably not see full job recovery until 2021.

“The odds are that both Connecticut and the nation are apt to be encountering a full-blown national recession prior to full job recovery in Connecticut, which raises serious questions about the state's fiscal health over the nearterm,” he said in the report.

Four of the 10 major industries added jobs, however.

The financial activities industry led the charge, adding 700 jobs, for a total of 127,400. The trade, transportation and utilities, and education and health gained 200 jobs, respectively.

Among the state’s six regional labor markets, Danbury’s showed signs of growth with a slight gain of 200 jobs while other markets in the area suffered.

The Bridgeport-StamfordNorwalk area lost 600 jobs while the New Haven market fell by 300.