A new report issued by the state Department of Labor shows Connecticut has transitioned since the recession from its top job sector being trade, transportation, and utilities to education and health services.
The education and health-services sector, which was the only industry to add jobs during the recession, now accounts for almost 1 in 5 Connecticut jobs, according to the April issue of The Connecticut Economic Digest.
While the trade, transportation, and utilities sector is no longer No. 1, it’s the goods-producing sector that saw the largest drop in employment since 2008. Jobs in that sector accounted for 13 percent of the Connecticut labor force in 2015, down from 14.9 percent in 2008.
The report also showed Connecticut has regained 76.7 percent of the jobs it lost in the recession. The state is on par with Maine (79.5 percent) and Rhode Island (87.9 percent), but still has a way to go to reach the levels of New York (259.1 percent) and Massachusetts (245.6 percent).
Another issue with the state’s changing labor force is that higher-paying jobs are being replaced by lower-paying jobs. A recent report published by the Commission on Economic Competitiveness said the educational services, accommodation and food services, and healthcare and social-assistance sectors added the most jobs from 2002 to 2014 but paid an average wage of $54,018. The higher paying manufacturing, information, and construction sectors lost the most jobs with their much higher average wage of $75,246. The state’s average wage, according to the report, is $65,000 as of Dec. 2014.
