🔒So far, 2016 offers mixed results for region, state

It's the official midway point in the year, so it's a good time to break down some of 2016's low and high points. Here's our analysis of this year's good, bad and ugly.

The Good

Connecticut's economy has continued its slow recovery, and while many would like to see the new-jobs pace quicken, it's a positive sign the state's private sector has boosted employment levels in 2016, especially in the wake of so much uncertainty on the state, national and global levels.

Through the first five months of 2016, Connecticut added 8,100 jobs, up from 5,800 jobs gained in the same time period last year. The state's unemployment rate is 5.7 percent, up slightly from a year ago even though Connecticut has added jobs in four out of five months this year through May — a sign more people are looking for work.

Since May 2015, the private sector added 14,700 jobs, while the government sector shed 800 jobs.

Connecticut home sales — a key economic indicator — also continue to climb. Single-family home sales rose for the seventh consecutive month in May, by 23.9 percent, with a total of 2,921 homes changing hands. Year-to-date, home sales are up 23 percent, however, the median sales price has remained stagnant, declining slightly by 1.4 percent to $235,000.

The Bad

While the jobs data has largely pointed to a continuing economic recovery in Connecticut, the outlook remains cloudy at best.

The biggest issue — other than larger global macroeconomic factors Connecticut has little control over, including things like market uncertainty from the presidential election and United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union — is the state's continuing budget crisis.

State lawmakers smartly avoided tax increases this legislative session in the face of a nearly $1 billion deficit, but more billion-dollar deficits loom.

Most alarming is the precipitous decline in state income-tax revenues, the main contributor to the state ending fiscal 2016 in the red by $315.8 million, despite countless attempts to slash spending throughout the year. That will force policymakers to dip into the state's rainy-day fund to balance the books, leaving only about $90 million in Connecticut's emergency reserve, which equals one-half of 1 percent of annual operating costs. That means the state has little to no fiscal cushion to deal with future deficits.

Meantime, even with hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts enacted by lawmakers this session, the state faces billion-dollar-plus deficits in fiscals 2018 and 2019. Worse yet, when the legislature convenes again in January, local elections will be over, increasing the likelihood lawmakers will be more willing to enact another wave of tax increases to balance the budget.

These conditions will continue to have a dampening effect on the state's economy, making businesses cautious about expanding or adding jobs here.

The Ugly

While Connecticut's budget woes are disheartening, the financial state of the Capital City is downright ugly, with few good options available to avoid a state intervention or potential bankruptcy.

Add the black eyes Hartford has suffered from the delayed construction of Dunkin' Donuts Park and the federal indictments recently handed down to two former Dillon Stadium developers accused of swindling city hall out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it's been a rough year for the city.

First-year Mayor Luke Bronin has been greeted with an unending wave of difficult choices. He's already laid off 40 city hall employees and made other significant cuts to spending, but he says it won't be nearly enough to cover the tens of millions of dollars in deficits projected for the foreseeable future. Bronin says the city will need help to make ends meet, but what that means exactly remains unclear. He hasn't ruled out a potential bankruptcy or state intervention, but even those options won't cure Hartford's deep-rooted ills of poverty, income/education inequality and lack of taxable property/economic growth.

There are still plenty of positive things going on in Hartford, including the addition of new apartments and some innovative small businesses beginning to sprout here, but until Bronin or any other leader articulates a long-term, implementable vision for a financially stable city that raises the fortunes of all its residents, Hartford will continue to struggle.