CBIA Reaction to October 2021 Employment Report

11.18.2021
Media Center

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

“While it is heartening to see another month of employment gains, the pace of Connecticut’s jobs recovery relative to the region and the country remains a concern,” CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima said today.

“The financial activities sector’s strong gains were a real highlight for the month—that’s a key component of the state’s economy and is one of just two sectors still below pre-pandemic employment levels.

“However, manufacturing lost 300 jobs, with most of those in aerospace, a reflection of the pandemic’s continued impact on commercial aviation. 

“Connecticut’s year-to-date job growth is now at 2.9%, still well below the national rate of 4.1% and second slowest in the region.

“While unemployment fell four-tenths to 6.4% last month, the labor force is down 27,100 people since January—and 105,400 less than February 2020—further fueling workforce shortage concerns.

“There are 79,500 fewer people working now than in February of last year, despite something on the order of 70,000 job openings—the question is this: ‘where have these people gone?’

“CBIA is ready to work with the administration to find real solutions, beginning perhaps with a survey of unemployed residents to better understand the factors driving this disconnect between job openings and the lack of candidates.”


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 contact Ali Warshavsky (860.244.1929).

Tags:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected with CBIA News Digests

The latest news and information delivered directly to your inbox.

CBIA IS FIGHTING TO MAKE CONNECTICUT A TOP STATE FOR BUSINESS, JOBS, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. A BETTER BUSINESS CLIMATE MEANS A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR EVERYONE.