Connecticut’s unemployment rate dropped slightly from April to May as 5,200 jobs were added to the economy, according to a release today from the Connecticut Department of Labor.
Since December, Connecticut has seen a total growth of 14,700 jobs, although the total number of nonfarm employment is down 8,000 from May 2009. Total May 2010 employment is 1,622,800.
The unemployment rate dipped from 9.0 percent in April to 8.9 percent in May, better than the national unemployment rate of 9.7 percent. The state unemployment rate remains above last year, when 8.2 percent were unemployed in May 2009.
The vast majority of the jobs added in May came from the government sector, specifically from 5,800 jobs created for the U.S. Census. Other sectors adding jobs include professional and business services (2,800) and educational and health services (2,100).
“With five months of positive employment growth, this may be the best indicator yet that we have slowly begun a turning point toward recovery,” said Labor Statistics supervisor Salvatore DiPillo in a press release. “However, job growth will continue to be hard fought, and we may very well see months when the employment numbers show little inclination to move upward.”
Connecticut business sectors that saw drops in employment were leisure and hospitality (2,600), construction (1,300) and financial activities (1,000).
The state has lost more than 103,000 jobs since the start of the recession. The unemployment rate in January 2009 was 7.1 percent.
The same Department of Labor report shows employees are working more hours and getting paid more for it. The average weekly earnings rose to $962.81, up more than $50 from May 2009. The average weekly hours also increased to 33.7 hours, up 36 minutes over May 2009.
