October Jobs Numbers: Storm Surge?

11.21.2011
Economy

Connecticut notched a second consecutive month of job growth in October, with employers adding 6,500 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a point to 8.7 percent.
In issuing its monthly employment report, the state Department of Labor sounded a note of caution, however.
“The employment sectors that appear most responsible for October’s job growth seem to be related to demand for repairs driven by Hurricane Irene,” said Andy Condon, director of the agency’s research office.
“The strongest increases came from construction, temporary employment services, and services to buildings & dwellings. We would expect this type of job growth to be temporary.”
The professional and business services sector added 3,000 jobs in the month, leading all sectors. Construction, battered for much of the year, gained 1,500 jobs.
Education and health services gained 900 jobs, as did the government sector. Manufacturing lost 400 jobs, leaving the sector flat over the last 12 months.
“While there is good news in this report,” said CBIA economist Pete Gioia, “It should be remembered that for year-over-year, we’ve only added 10,100 jobs in total, so we still have an awful long way to go to fully erase the job losses from the recession.”
Over the first 10 months of 2011, Connecticut saw six months of job gains against four months of job losses (see figure above).
The state has regained just 34,100 of the 119,200 jobs lost during the recession, which ran from March, 2008 through January, 2010.

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