Connecticut sees decline of 2,500 jobs in December
“Connecticut’s labor force — those working and those actively looking for work — declined another 14,300 people last year, and is down 37,900 people since February 2020.” Chris DiPentima, Connecticut Business & Industry Association
Connecticut’s economy finished 2023 on a sour note, losing an estimated 2,500 jobs in December, officials with the state Labor Department said Monday.
Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo said the state’s unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a percent last month to 3.8 percent.
Despite the loss of jobs in December, Bartolomeo said “Connecticut’s economy remains strong and stable,” with employers adding an estimated 22,700 jobs for the year in 2023.
“In 2022 we saw a similar pattern of months of strong early growth that tapered in late 2022, but produced strong early 2023 hiring,” she said. “Overall, Connecticut’s unemployment rate remains very low and employers continue to hire across industry sectors. The available labor pool remains a challenge for recruiters.”
Employers have 75,000 jobs posted across a broad cross section of industries, Bartolomeo said.
But Fred Carstensen, a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Business and director of the state Center for Economic Analysis, said the December employment data “is worrisome and discouraging,” because it comes at a time when there is an expectation that Connecticut’s economy should be growing.
“You’d expect to see a bit of a bump from hiring done for the holidays,” Carstensen said of December numbers.
Even with the number of jobs that were added over the full year of 2023, he said Connecticut’s economy still lags behind employment levels of 15 years ago.
“Given that the state has gotten its fiscal house in order, this is not the outcome that we’d like to see,” Carstensen said.
“I don’t think the governor and the legislature have really gotten serious about restoring the state’s economic growth.”
Connecticut’s economy lost nearly 120,000 jobs between March 2008 and February 2010, which was the low point for employment in the state.
Since then, the state’s economy has only recovered 79.1 percent of the jobs lost.
By comparison, when the federal Labor Department reported its December employment data earlier this week, U.S. employers added 216,000 jobs in December.
The increase in jobs nationwide in December was the 36th consecutive month of gains.
Chris DiPentima, president and chief executive officer of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, said while the job growth in state was just under the national employment growth rate at 1.4 percent, labor force numbers told a different and less encouraging story.
“Connecticut’s labor force — those working and those actively looking for work — declined another 14,300 people last year, and is down 37,900 people since February 2020,” DiPentima said.
“We must attract more people to the state, and that means renewed focus on making Connecticut a more attractive and affordable place to live and work.
“Opportunity is central to those solutions — we can not solve the crisis without improving and implementing career pathways for women, immigrants, returning citizens, veterans, and those from underserved and often forgotten communities.”