For the second straight month, Connecticut has shown a net loss in jobs. Unemployment, though, is down from adjusted Aug. 2015 numbers.
According to the state Department of Labor, October’s preliminary nonfarm job estimate developed from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics business survey shows Connecticut lost 2,200 jobs. That equates to a 5.1 percent unemployment rate.
This is the second monthly job loss in a row and the fourth monthly state nonfarm jobs decline out of the first 10 months of this 2015.
State labor officials were quick to point out in a statement that the state has still increased nonfarm employment by 24,100 jobs (1.44 percent) since Oct. 2014. The Sept. 2015 estimated nonfarm employment loss of 7,600 positions for the state was revised to 4,800 jobs lost.
Connecticut’s unemployment rate has not been this low since March 2008 when it was 5.1 percent.
The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk labor market and the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford labor market, the state’s two largest labor markets, posted positive job growth in October, while the New Haven labor market and the Norwich-New London-Westerly, R.I., labor markets both lost jobs last month. The Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford labor market still leads all major labor markets in yearly job growth while the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk labor market leads in percentage terms.
