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May 20, 2021

Labor Dept: CT gained 500 jobs in April; private sector lost jobs in month

Labor Department officials estimate that of the 1.4 million applications for unemployment benefits received over the past year, approximately 100,000 have so far been identified as fraudulent by department staff. Contributed | CT Mirror
By Zachary Vasile

Connecticut added 500 jobs in April, the state Department of Labor announced today, nudging the official unemployment rate down from 8.3% to 8.1%.

The professional services, hospitality, government and information sectors posted relatively strong growth, but almost all of that progress was wiped out by job losses in education, health, transportation, finance and manufacturing. The private sector as a whole shed 600 positions.

Hartford, Danbury and the Bridgeport-Stamford area all added jobs, while New Haven, New London and Waterbury reported decreases.

“The economy is clearly recovering and while we would have liked to see more robust job growth for April, Connecticut’s unemployment rate is dropping, jobs are being added and the number of people receiving unemployment benefits is declining as people go back to work,” said Labor Commissioner Kurt Westby. “These are positive trends.”

“Recoveries are uneven,” added Patrick Flaherty, director of the labor department’s office of research. “April’s small job gains follow stronger gains in March. Evidence of increased job postings and openings suggests Connecticut is poised for larger gains later this year.”

Connecticut trails the nation as whole when it comes to jobless figures. As of April, the U.S. unemployment rate stood at 6.1%, up slightly from 6% in March.

The state has now recovered about 60% of the 292,400 positions it shed during March and April of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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