Connecticut unemployment rate stuck at 8 percent: DOL

This is from the state Department of Labor:

“WETHERSFIELD, May 16, 2013 – On a seasonally adjusted basis, preliminary estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate Connecticut businesses added 6,300 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in April 2013. The private sector added 5,800 workers and the public sector increased 500 positions. The state’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.0% last month. Connecticut has now gained 9,600 jobs in the first four months of the year for a 2,400 average monthly growth pace in 2013.

“Though our monthly data can be volatile, Connecticut’s job growth tempo picked up considerably last month,” said Andy Condon, Director of the Office of Research. “The state appears to be experiencing a solid and more typical spring seasonal job buildup. Seven of ten major industry supersectors participated in job gains in April. Annualized job growth is now back above 10,000.

Nonfarm Jobs: Nonfarm employment in Connecticut for April continued to improve and increased by 6,300 additional jobs or 0.4% growth over the month. Seven of ten major industry supersectors posted job gains in April, and only two exhibited employment declines. The manufacturing component was unchanged. The state has added 10,800 positions (0.7%) since April 2012 and is now at a new employment recovery highpoint of 1,649,300 jobs. This is a big swing from the just 1,000 (+0.1%) annualized gain measured from March 2012 to March 2013 in the prior release.

Recession Recovery: Connecticut has now recovered 57,500 positions or 47.4% of the 121,200 seasonally adjusted total nonfarm jobs that were lost in the state in the March 2008 to February 2010 employment recession. The jobs recovery is now 38 months underway. The private sector has performed better and has restored 65,000 (57.0%) of the 114,000 private jobs that were lost during the same employment downturn. This month marks the highpoint in the nonfarm employment recovery in the state at 1,649,300.

Labor Market Areas (LMAs): Two of the six major Connecticut Labor Market Areas (LMAs) experienced job increases in April 2013, while four of the major state LMAs recorded declines. However, the two increasing LMA’s were the two largest employing regions in size in the state and posted substantial gains. The second largest LMA in the state, the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk LMA (4,200, 1.0%, considered statistically significant), grew the most and the largest LMA, the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford LMA (2,000, 0.4%), also came through with strong job growth over the month. The four other smaller LMA’s tallied job losses that were 300 jobs or less and were as follows: Waterbury LMA (-300, -0.5%), Danbury LMA (-300, -0.4%), Norwich-New London LMA (-200, -0.2%), and New Haven LMA (-100, -0.04%). The major Connecticut LMAs are estimated and seasonally adjusted independently from the statewide numbers.

Hours and Earnings: The private sector workweek, not seasonally adjusted, averaged 33.5 hours in April 2013, down eight-tenths of an hour from the April 2012 figure (34.3, -2.3%). The year ago April hours worked estimate may have been overstated from the record warm weather last year. Average hourly earnings at $28.15, not seasonally adjusted, were down thirty-five cents, or -1.2% from the April 2012 hourly pay estimate. The resulting average private sector weekly pay was estimated at $943.03, down $34.52, or -3.5% over the year. Information for the manufacturing production workweek and earnings can be found in the table section of this release under the “Hours and Earnings” data category. Year-to-year change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U, U.S. City Average) in March 2013 was 1.5%.”