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Bursting at the Seams
Employment in state nears all-time high
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Business New Haven
12/11/2000
By: Michael C. Bingham
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Any Connecticut employer who has tried to fill a position recently knows it anecdotally. But now the proof is in: Employment in the Nutmeg State is approaching unprecedented heights.
The number of state workers covered by unemployment insurance (UI) grew by 29,181 during 1999, according to the state's Department of Labor. That 1.8-percent growth rate fell short of the 1997-98 growth rate of 2.2 percent, but marked the seventh consecutive year of expansion following the early 1990s recession.
The 1999 total employment figure of 1,652,315 was marginally lower than the 1988 high of 1,662,044, when the state's average annual UI-covered employment reached its peak. Last year private industry employment grew by 1.5 percent, while government employment rose 4.2 percent over the same period.
The average annual wage of Connecticut workers last year was $42,647, representing a 4.2-percent increase over 1998. Private-industry employees, comprising 87.4 percent of all workers in the state, recorded an average annual wage of $43,077, a 4.8 percent hike.
Among the nine major industry divisions charted by the DOL, only manufacturing and wholesale trade experienced employment dips during 1999. The manufacturing sector shed 8,585 jobs during the year, or 3.1 percent of its total, while 950 jobs (1.1 percent) of jobs were lost in the wholesale trades.
The largest increase in employment came in the smallest industry division - agriculture, forestry and fishing - which rose 6.3 percent by adding 1,027 jobs. The construction industry followed, adding 2,516 jobs for a 4.3-percent hike.
In terms of wages, eight of the state's ten major industry groups showed average annual wage hikes during 1999. Workers in finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) enjoyed the highest average annual wage, $76,066, up 8.8 percent over 1998. Within FIRE, security and commodity brokers fared best, with average annual pay of $204,450.
At the other end of the wage spectrum were workers in the retail trade, whose 1999 average annual pay was $20,869. That figure, however, is artificially depressed by the high proportion of part-time workers.
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