Connecticut unemployment rose to 6.6 percent in November, driven by job losses in manufacturing, construction and finance, state labor officials said today.
The state lost 5,100 jobs last month compared to the 1,000 lost in October, when the unemployment rate was a revised 6.5 percent, the state Labor Department said.
U.S. unemployment was 6.7 percent in November.
Connecticut’s nonfarm employment in November was 1,693,400. On a seasonally adjusted basis, this is a decrease of 10,500 from November 2007, the labor agency said.
“After bucking the national trend of job losses during the first half of this year, Connecticut’s economy has taken a major plunge, dropping employment 11,300 over the last three months,” said state Labor Economist John Tirinzonie. “Job losses have begun to escalate and, given the severity of the recession nationally, any improvement in the short term seems unlikely.”
Among the state’s 10 major industry sectors, only one registered an over-the-month gain, two remained
relatively unchanged and seven lost employment.
After losing 1,100 jobs in October, employment in educational and health services managed to bounce back, adding 600 to its workforce. Information was unchanged, while leisure and hospitality showed a barely discernible increase from the prior month’s figure.
Employment in trade, transportation and utilities plummeted 2,500, which accounted for nearly half of this month’s total job loss. The low level of holiday hiring in retail trade establishments may have been a major cause for the sharp drop in the seasonally adjusted employment figure.
Poor economic conditions nationally and internationally have negatively affected manufacturing, causing the loss of 900 jobs, while both construction and professional and business services saw an over-the-month drop of 700 jobs.
Also on the negative side was government employment, down 600, while both financial activities and other services saw their payrolls shrink by 200.