CT Dept. of labor hq
Photo credit: Steve Kotchko
Posted 6/22/09
Believe it or not, Connecticut actually gained 3600 jobs in May, despite the continuing recession. “After eight consecutive months of job losses, the state’s unemployment picture did show some signs of life in May,” said John Tirinzonie, economist at the State Department of Labor. “Solid increases in employment numbers last month for the construction, retail trade, and leisure and hospitality industries helped push the adjusted figures into the black, giving us some hope the worst may be behind us,” he said.
Before you shout “hooray”, it should be noted the overall unemployment rate for May went up a tick to 8% from 7.9% in April. However, even that statistic may have a silver lining. It could mean that more jobless individuals see enough opportunity in the economy to renew their search for employment after months “on the beach”, as they say in labor terminology.
Unlike some past recessions when the Northeast wallowed in unemployment (and regional self-pity), New England as a whole seems to be doing better than some other areas. Though all six New England states saw their jobless rates rise a bit in May, Massachusetts and New Hampshire saw jobs gains a la Connecticut.
Also, while Connecticut’s 8% unemployment rate is discouraging, it is much lower than the 9.4% national average and it went up just .1%, while the U.S rate jumped .5%. Some areas of the country are struggling mightily with jobless rates much higher than either the Connecticut or U.S. averages.
Connecticut’s job gains in May surprised some experts who still expect the state will continue to suffer job losses this year, perhaps as high as 35,000 positions, on top of the 65,000 jobs already lost in the recessionary economy.
“Given the volatility of monthly changes, the gain (in May) may be more of an anomaly rather than the beginning of a consistent pattern,” said Tirinzonie. That suggests more time will be needed to determine if positive signs of recovery, nicknamed “green shoots” by economists, actually grow or are stunted by setbacks and turned into “weeds”.
Delving into the data, the construction industry gained 700 workers in May, good news for a business sector whacked hard by the dual challenges of the housing market crash and frozen lending patterns. Stronger gains were seen in the leisure and hospitality industry with 2100 new jobs posted, and more than 1400 jobs were added in the retail trade, transportation and utilities sector, plus 1100 new positions in the government sector.
Losers on the job front include the manufacturing sector down 800 positions, professional and business services shed 600 jobs, the information sector was down 500 jobs, while the financial sector went relatively unchanged.
Four of the six major labor markets in Connecticut showed job gains in May. The unemployment rate remains highest in the Waterbury area at a dismal 10.7%. The Danbury area has the lowest jobless rate in the state at 6.8%. These two labor markets have held their “high-low” positions for at least the last year.
Though the average weekly hours figure for manufacturing jobs dropped from 42.6 in May 2008 to 40.1 in May 2009, the average hourly earnings rate rose from $20.96 to $23.05, and that caused the average weekly earnings rate in manufacturing jobs to jump to $924.31 from $892.90 in May 2008.
Summer may hold the key on whether May’s glimmer of positive news on the job front is just a flash of light or as sustaining as the glow of a July sundown at the beach.