(Wethersfield, CT) – Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL) Interim Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo today announced that economic trends remain positive as the state recovers from the COVID-19 virus. Data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the state added 11,100 jobs in July, revised up from 9,400 jobs, making that the strongest month on record for 2021. An estimated 3,300 jobs were added in August, marking eight consecutive months of job growth. The state’s unemployment rate continued its downward trend and dropped slightly to an estimated 7.2% in August from 7.3% in July.
Interim Commissioner Bartolomeo said, “These numbers are good and going in the right direction, especially the July job data that set another high bar for job growth. In large part, these positive economic trends are because Connecticut’s leadership and residents are taking COVID-19 seriously. Vaccines and other public health precautions have a direct benefit to our economy—COVID variants like Delta have an opportunity to push the economy back on its heels, so it’s critical that we all work together to keep that from happening.”
Economist Patrick Flaherty, Director of the CTDOL Office of Research said, “The pandemic recession behaves differently than other recessions. During the Great Recession we had a steady decline in economic activity—jobs were lost over months and took years to recover. During the pandemic, the economy just dropped off a cliff—jobs were gone overnight, but we are showing faster recovery growth as well. Many workers are taking advantage of the current market to find new jobs; the quit rate is at a record high. People are voluntarily leaving their jobs for other opportunities, something we didn’t see during the Great Recession recovery.”
TOPLINE POINTS FROM THE REPORT:
- Payroll employment is now at 1,605,300.
- Connecticut has recovered 69% (201,400) of the 292,400 jobs lost March-April 2020.
- Eight of 10 supersectors gained employment and two declined in August.
- The healthcare sector has not come back as strongly as other sectors.
#DOLDaily August 2021 Labor Report Major Takeaways
#DOLDaily August 2021 Labor Report Job Growth Patterns
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For Immediate Release: September 16, 2021