CT’s 2016 economic outlook bright

PHOTO | Contributed (From left) New Haven economist Donald Klepper-Smith, state Labor Department economist Patrick Flaherty and University of Hartford finance professor Susan Coleman headlined the CBIA's economic forecast session Sept. 11.

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With the 2015 Connecticut economy in its final stretch, the preview for the state's economy next year is bright with nothing on the horizon that could derail it, observers say.

“The good news is we're in positive territory,'' said New Haven economist Donald Klepper-Smith. “The bad news is we're lagging the pace of the previous recovery.''

According to Klepper-Smith, the state's economy was projected to grow between 0.5 percent and 2 percent this year. The projected growth rate for 2016 is about 1 percent, he said.

He joined state Labor Department economist Patrick Flaherty and University of Hartford finance professor Susan Coleman for an economics panel discussion at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association's annual economic forecast conference Sept. 11 at the Hartford Marriott Downtown.

All three agreed that Connecticut's economy is, according to Flaherty, “on the mend.'' However, Coleman said the rollercoaster stock market of late reflects consumers' ongoing concerns about the pace and direction of the national and global economies.

“Consumer confidence is relatively fragile right now,'' she said.

Flaherty said that as of July, Connecticut had recovered 102,000, or 86 percent, of the 119,000 jobs the state's economy shed from the start of the Great Recession in late 2007 through the recovery's start around March of 2010.

The insurance sector remains the hardest hit, recouping just over one of every 10 of its jobs that were shed during the recession, Flaherty said.

— Gregory Seay

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