Connecticut credit quality has inched up from dead last to 49th since October, according to Hartford’s Conning Inc., which provides investment management services to the insurance industry.
The change in the state’s bi-annual ranking was the result of a lower unemployment rate relative to other states, slightly lower debt as a percentage of personal income, and slightly better tax revenue growth in 2013, among other variables.
Connecticut’s assets continue to cover only 49.1 percent of the value of benefits earned by public employees, making it of a dozen states with a funded ratio under 60 percent.
While Connecticut improved in enough areas to move up one spot, its fixed expenditures as a percentage of total general fund expenditures ticked up from 40.7 percent to 42.6 percent over the past six months.
Kentucky was at the bottom of the bi-annual ranking, falling two spots from October.
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