WETHERSFIELD - Connecticut added 3,000 jobs in April, marking a fourth consecutive month of modest job gains. Statewide non-farm employment was 1,617,000 in April, up from the revised March figure of 1,614,000. However, on a seasonally adjusted basis that represents a decrease of 14,100 jobs from the April 2009 total of 1,631,000.
As is her wont, Gov. M. Jodi Rell put the best face possible on the news.
"We have had four straight months of job growth in Connecticut as well as a drop in the unemployment rate [to 9.0 from the March figure of 9.2 percent]," she said. "These signs may be a welcome indication that our state is making a turn toward recovery."
The largest April job gain took place in the professional and business sector, which added 5,100 jobs, followed by the government sector, which added 1,700 positions (including temporary census workers).
Among industries shedding jobs, educational and health services posted a rare job loss in April, with 1,600 fewer jobs in educational services and 2,000 fewer in health care and social assistance.
Among the state's six major labor market areas (LMAs), New Haven posted the largest monthly job loss, 900 jobs (down 0.3 percent from March). Only Danbury and Norwich-New London were net job gainers.
By a substantial margin the Waterbury LMA has the state's highest unemployment rate: 11.6 percent. That figure is 8.6 percent for the New Haven LMA and 7.9 percent for Bridgeport-Stamford.
"Despite such promising indicators, it appears we have a way to go before healthy job growth gets underway," observed state Labor Statistics Supervisor Salvatore DiPillo. "We are still faced with a shaky global financial system and high numbers of housing foreclosures, while other challenges include an unemployment rate that is higher than this time last year, as is the number of weeks it takes to find new employment."
Nevertheless, DiPillo added, "The job growth we have seen since the beginning of this year is certainly a boost toward renewing employer and consumer confidence."
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