Connecticut’s economy ranked 38th in the nation for 2015, according to a new economic index developed by the state’s Department of Labor.
Modeled on the department’s comparable indices for municipalities, this new ranking, called the State Economic Indexes, was designed by the Labor Department’s Office of Research. The annual composite index includes all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Colorado ranked first in the nation with the highest index last year (137.9), while New Mexico came in last (107.2), the table shows.
Connecticut’s 2015 ranking, with an index value of 118.9, is below the national average of 124, but well above the 2013 ranking of 45th, says Jungmin Charles Joo, who wrote a synopsis for
Tuesday’s publication of the Connecticut Economic Digest.
Connecticut’s index increased 18.9 percent over the last five years, below the nation’s growth rate of 24.1 percent. In New England, Connecticut ranked fifth, slightly above Vermont, while Rhode Island’s economy fared the best. Overall, nearly half of the states in the nation recovered faster than the national average from 2010 to 2015, the report found.
Some of the factors that contributed to Connecticut’s ranking include a ranking of 17th for business and labor conditions with a 5.7 percent growth rate over the year; a 4.7 percent increase business formations compared with double-digit percentages for other states; and a business establishment growth rate of 1.5 percent (below the national rate of 2 percent).
“Connecticut’s 38th place last year leaves some room for improvement,” the report states. “If the economy improves further in 2016, more states’ SEI should reflect that.”
The SEI used employment, unemployment and wage data for its analysis.
