CBIA Reaction to July 2021 Employment Report

The state’s largest business organization issued the following response to today’s release of the July 2021 employment report.

“Today’s positive jobs numbers for July is welcome news for Connecticut’s pandemic recovery, with the state now having recovered 67% of the 292,400 jobs lost last March and April,” CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima said today.

“It is clear the reinstatement of the work-search requirement for unemployment benefit claimants has impacted the July employment numbers.

“Employers are now anxiously waiting to see what happens when the federal unemployment benefit supplement expires in early September. 

“The path to full jobs recovery and economic growth continues to be challenging. Connecticut’s year-to-date job growth is just 1.9%, well below the U.S. average of 3% and the slowest of the New England states.

“There’s a puzzling disconnect between our position as one of the leading states for vaccinations and the overall pace of jobs recovery—we know employers are struggling to fill thousands of open positions and there needs to be greater focus on addressing that issue.”

CBIA is Connecticut’s largest business organization, with thousands of member companies, small and large, representing a diverse range of industries from every part of the state. For more information, please email or call Ali Warshavsky (860.244.1929).