Although Connecticut is still a ways away from recapturing all the jobs lost during the Great Recession, the private sector is moving closer to a full recovery.
Connecticut’s non-government job sector added 10,100 jobs in September, according to the state Department of Labor. Since Feb. 2010, the month Connecticut emerged from a nearly two-year recession, the private sector has added 93,700 jobs, recapturing 83.7 percent of the 112,000 jobs lost during the downturn.
That means the state needs to add 18,300 more jobs to fully restore private sector employment levels.
The one bright spot in an otherwise painfully slow job recovery in the state has been the private sector’s ability to bounce back more quickly than the public sector.
Overall, Connecticut shed 119,100 jobs during the recession but has only regained 71.6 percent or 85,300 of those positions, even though it’s been more than four years since the recession officially ended.
Another bright spot: private sector hourly earnings were also up in September, which means employers were more willing to give raises or start new employees at higher salaries or hourly pay.
