Connecticut added 900 jobs in February, a steep drop from January when 5,800 jobs were gained and private sector employment reached a 34-year high.
However, the total number of jobs was up 14,900 from February 2023, according to data that the state Department of Labor (DOL) released Thursday.
“After January’s strong job gains, February showed continued steady job growth,” said DOL Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo. “Employers remain challenged by the smaller workforce, but the labor force expanded again last month, which is good news for recruiters.”
She said that the pattern of strong early-year job growth in Connecticut seen in 2022 and 2023 appears to be repeating.
“We expect the growth to moderate towards mid-year,” Bartolomeo said. “Economists continue to watch national and international events for impacts including inflation, energy prices and interest rates.”
Including February’s numbers, there are 1.7 million people employed in the Nutmeg State and the unemployment rate is 4.5%,
Currently, employers have about 90,000 job openings, the DOL said.
February’s unemployment rate is one percentage point higher than a year ago, when it stood at 3.5%. The uptick is largely due to more workers entering the labor force, the DOL said.
“Job gains have averaged 3,350 so far this year, a good start for 2024 with most industries adding jobs during the first two months of the year,” said Patrick Flaherty, director of research at the DOL. “Job growth averaged 1,500 per month in 2023 with the first half of the year showing more growth than the second half. We may see a repeat of that pattern in 2024.”
The four industry supersectors that added jobs in February were: other services (+1,600), financial activities (+600), construction and mining (+500), and leisure and hospitality (+200). “Other services” had the largest gains, likely due to a strong month for repair and maintenance, according to the DOL.
Jobs in the trade, transportation and utilities supersector remained unchanged, with a total of 297,600 workers. Also, the manufacturing and information supersectors remained unchanged, with 158,400 and 30,000 jobs, respectively.
Three industry supersectors saw declines in February: professional and business services (-1,700), government (-200), and educational and health services (-100).
CBIA President and CEO Chris DiPentima called February’s addition of 900 jobs “steady growth.”
“It’s also encouraging to see the state’s labor force — those working and those actively looking for work — increase by 4,000 in February and 20,000 year-over-year,” DiPentima said.
He noted that Connecticut only has slightly more job openings than the approximately 86,000 people looking for work.
“That is a sharp contrast to just a few months ago when there were essentially 1.5 jobs for every unemployed person in the state,” DiPentima said.
He encouraged the state to “broaden and target skills-based workforce development efforts across the state to connect those looking for work to those job openings.”
