Connecticut is home to one of the most productive workforces in the country, but it appears to be losing its edge, federal data show.
Labor productivity in Connecticut has grown at a significantly slower pace than almost all other U.S. states in recent years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
In fact, the state’s labor productivity, which measures the percent change in goods and services workers produced vs. hours worked in the private nonfarm sector, actually declined slightly by 0.5 percent over a 10-year period ending in 2017, BLS said last week.
Labor productivity, though, began to rebound in Connecticut between 2016 and 2017, increasing 1.2 percent.
Connecticut ranked fifth among the states in 2017 for labor productivity.
In BLS’ latest assessment, Louisiana was the only other state to record a lower labor productivity rate (-0.7 percent) than Connecticut for the 2007-2017 period. North Dakota and California led the nation in annual increases of 3.1 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
Massachusetts (1.4 percent increase) led New England states in annual percentage change in labor productivity over the 10-year period, ahead of Vermont (1.4 percent), New Hampshire (1.1 percent), Rhode Island (1 percent) and Maine (0.3 percent).
BLS said its new experimental data seeks to clarify state-level productivity using metrics such as output per hour, overall output, unit labor costs, hourly compensation and “real” hourly compensation.
The insights, BLS said, are aimed at helping data users better understand the impact of regulations and taxes on growth, regional business cycles and which states are driving productivity growth nationally.
The BLS data paints another bleak picture of Connecticut’s economic performance. The state shed 1,400 jobs in June. Moreover, the state’s $282 billion economy grew at a rate of 2.2 percent percent during the first quarter of 2019, a pace that ranked No. 45 in the nation.
