The state’s overall employment picture remained mostly unchanged in April.
According to the monthly jobs report compiled by the state’s Department of Labor (DOL), Connecticut added 300 non-farm jobs last month, a rise of 0.02 percent to a total of 1,695,300 jobs statewide, seasonally adjusted.
The jobs picture reflected an increase of 500 jobs in the private sector (up 0.03 percent) for the month. Over the trailing 12 months the private sector has gained 10,800 jobs statewide.
The government sector (reflecting local, state and federal government employment) posted a decline of 200 jobs for the month to a total of 236,600, although government employment overall is up 800 jobs for the year.
The leading industry “supersectors” (DOL speak) for job gains in April were professional and business services, which added 1,600 jobs, and trade, transportation and utilities, which added 700 jobs for the month despite continuing employment erosion in the retail sector.
The biggest job losers for the month were construction and mining, which dropped 2,300 jobs, notwithstanding the arrival of the spring construction season (a decline that DOL officials speculate may stem from cold, wet weather this April). Manufacturing was next among the net losers, shedding 500 jobs for the month.
Of the six labor-market areas (LMAs) defined by the DOL, just one — Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk — posted a net gain, 300 jobs, in April. The biggest LMA job-losers were New Haven and Hartford, both of which lost 800 jobs during the month.
