The Connecticut Labor Department says 6,600 jobs were shed in September, pushing the unemployment rate to 8.4 percent from 8.1 percent in August.
The state’s nonfarm employment in September was 1,622,600, down from August’s revised 1,629,200 jobs, the agency said.
U.S. unemployment hit 9.8 percent last month.
“As with the rest of the nation, Connecticut saw greater job losses in September than in recent months and unemployment continued to rise to a level not seen here in nearly 33 years,” said state labor economist Salvatore DiPillo.
Bright spots, DiPillo said, included construction adding 1,200 jobs – the largest monthly gain in nearly two years of job losses – while the leisure and hospitality sector also added employment.
In September, Connecticut experienced job losses in six of the ten major industry sectors and gained in three, while employment remained stable in one. The state’s most significant losses occurred in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, down 3,400 jobs, and in professional and business services, down 2,900 jobs.
The education and health services sector lost 2,200 jobs while other services was off by 1,000. Job losses were also seen in the manufacturing and financial activities sectors, each down 500 jobs.
Those sectors showing an increase were seen in leisure and hospitality, with a gain of 1,400 jobs and government added another 1,300 jobs. The construction sector added 1,200 while the information sector job level remained unchanged from the previous month.
With 52,000 jobs in September, construction was up by 1,200 from August’s number — the largest increase in a mostly-down year. This industry sector has experienced the largest percentage of job loss, and despite September’s gain, its employment is down 25 percent from October 2007 when it first began to shed jobs.
Despite a loss of 500 jobs in September, losses in the manufacturing sector have eased off a bit in recent months, following several months of substantial losses. This sector, with 171,600 jobs, is down 8.3 percent from last September.
