CT unemployment increased to 5.7% in March

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By Joe Cooper

Jobs showed minor growth in March but the state’s unemployment rate posted an unexpected increase, according to a report today from the state Department of Labor.

The state’s unemployment rate increased to 5.7 percent from a revised 5.5 percent rate in Feb. 2016, according to labor statistics. It was the first uptick in unemployment since Oct. 2015. The rate is down from 5.9 percent in March 2015.

“Although the rise in the unemployment rate this month was unexpected, there are some positive aspects to the move,” said Andy Condon, director of the Department of Labor’s Office of Research. “The rise in unemployment occurred in a growing labor force, meaning it was driven by more people entering the labor market looking for work rather than a decrease in the number of employed. Job growth is occurring, but not fast enough to employ all of those recently entering the market.”

Over the year, the number of the state’s unemployed residents has fallen by 4,367 (-3.9 percent), but they did rise in March 2016 (3,064, 2.9 percent) to 107,575. Last month, the statewide labor force expanded back above the 1.9 million mark (1,901,906) for the first time since Feb. 2015.

Preliminary nonfarm job estimates, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, estimate Connecticut added Connecticut added 300 jobs (0.02 percent) in March 2016 to a level of 1,685,600, seasonally adjusted. Year-to-date estimated statewide nonfarm job gains for the first three months of 2016 total 5,600, compared to the 2,200 added last year during the frigid first quarter of 2015.