Connecticut gained 800 jobs in February, dropping the state’s jobless rate to 7 percent – the lowest since the start of 2009, the state Labor Department says.
This is the seven straight monthly drop in the jobless rate, going back to last July. State unemployment stood at 7.9 percent in February 2013, the agency said Thursday.
Private-sector hiring continues to pace the state’s job growth, data showed.
January unemployment was 7.2 percent. The state’s jobless rate last hit 7 percent in January 2009.
“February’s job report seemed to confirm that weather was partly responsible for January’s sharp decline as we saw recovery in several of the industries that had stumbled,” said labor agency Research Director Andy Condon. “The continued decline in Connecticut’s unemployment rate, driven by growing household employment, signals that we continue on the path of job recovery.”
