Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo said the agency has had “very limited visibility” into Connecticut’s economy for the past two months.
The Connecticut Department of Labor on Thursday issued an economic update in place of its monthly labor situation report, which remains delayed due to the federal government shutdown that ended Nov. 12.
Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo said the agency has had “very limited visibility” into Connecticut’s economy for the past two months because the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics was unable to collect and analyze data during the shutdown. She said the state will release figures for September, October and November as soon as they are provided by federal partners.
Patrick Flaherty, the department’s director of research and an economist, said gaps in national data collection will affect states across the country as federal and state teams work to restore the release schedule.
While Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data is still unavailable, CTDOL said postings tracked through Help Wanted Online show about 85,000 open jobs in Connecticut, up from roughly 80,000 in October. The sectors with the most postings are health care and social assistance (12,768), retail trade (10,819), and professional and scientific services (6,789).
Unemployment activity remains steady. About 30,000 residents are filing weekly state unemployment claims, and federal unemployment claims have totaled about 650 since January, which the agency described as typical levels.
CTDOL expects to publish delayed September and October labor data in the coming weeks and will issue an advisory ahead of the release. November data is still scheduled for Dec. 18, though that may change.
National job numbers were released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS reported that, nationally, nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 119,000 in September and the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4%.
