Preliminary figures released today show Connecticut continues to have the second highest rate of unemployment in New England. Overall, though, the state’s unemployment numbers for October 2015 were a significant improvement year over year.
With an unemployment rate of 5.1 percent, Connecticut exceeds the New England jobless rate of 4.1 percent. Connecticut’s numbers showed an improvement from 5.2 percent in September and 6.2 percent in October 2014, according to the the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
New England’s jobless rate declined from a year ago when it was 5.6 percent. The national jobless rate was essentially unchanged from September at 5 percent and was 0.7 percentage points lower than in October 2014.
Over the year, five New England states had statistically significant unemployment rate changes, all decreases. Rhode Island had the largest decline (-1.7 percent), followed by Maine (-1.3 percent), and Connecticut (-1.2 percent).
