Connecticut employers shed 500 jobs during the month of November, but the state’s jobless rate still fell slightly, state labor authorities say.
The state’s unemployment rate last month declined less than 1 percent to 4.1 percent, according to the Department of Labor (DOL). For the year, Connecticut’s nonfarm employment has climbed by 23,000 jobs, or 1.4 percent, to a total of 1.7 million jobs, labor officials said Thursday.
Meantime, state labor officials revised upward October’s jobs gain. During that month, the state added 3,000 jobs, up from an initial estimate of 1,500 net new jobs.
There are currently 77,700 unemployed residents, DOL said.
“It is clear that Connecticut’s labor market continues to tighten,” said Andy Condon, DOL’s director of the office of research. “Our unemployment rate continues to trend down into full employment territory, and nearly all industry supersectors are showing annual growth.”
In November, four of the state’s top 10 major industry “supersectors” added jobs and five lost workers, labor officials said.
Construction and mining led job growth last month with 600 new jobs, and jobs in “other services” added another 400. Sectors in “financial activities” and “information” added 300 and 200 jobs, respectively.
Education and health services accrued the largest job losses, with 600 less jobs in November vs. October. Meantime, professional and business services declined by 500 jobs and manufacturing and trade, transportation and utilities lost another 400 jobs.
Connecticut has recovered about 91.3 percent, or 108,700 jobs, of the 119,100 seasonally adjusted jobs lost during the Great Recession from March 2008 to Feb. 2010. That pace trails many states, which have recovered more than 100 percent of their jobs.
