For a third straight month, Connecticut reported a slight decline in jobs in September.
The state shed 300 jobs during the month, but the unemployment rate still fell from 3.4% to 3.2%, according to the state Department of Labor.
The U.S. unemployment rate is 4.1%. The September jobs report will be the last one published before the Nov. 5 elections.
Private sector employment was flat in September, while the government sector lost 300 net jobs.
Connecticut reported 2,200 job losses in August, and 900 job losses in July. Prior to that, the state recorded six consecutive months of job growth.
For the year, the state has added 14,500 jobs.
Connecticut’s labor force participation rate is 64.1%, down 0.1%; the national rate is 62.7%. The state had about 77,000 open positions at the end of August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Continued unemployment claims are below 25,000 and dropped last month, according to the state DOL.
Five industry supersectors added jobs or were unchanged in September:
- Professional and Business Services: +1,800, 0.8%, 220,100 total jobs
- Other Services: +400, 0.6%, 63,700
- Educational and Health Services: +400, 0.1%, 369,400
- Financial Activities: +300, 0.3%, 119,400
- Manufacturing unchanged, 157,800
Five industry supersectors decreased jobs in September:
- Trade, Transportation & Utilities: -900, -0.3%, 296,300 total jobs
- Construction and Mining: -800, -1.3%, 62,400
- Information: -700, -2.3%, 30,000
- Leisure & Hospitality: -500, -0.3%, 155,900
- Government: -300, -0.1%, 235,300
In response to the labor report, top Connecticut Business & Industry Association lobbyist Chris Davis raised concerns about the recent job losses.
“It’s concerning to see the positive economic momentum that highlighted the first half of the year has stalled,” he said. “The demand for workers remains strong, highlighted by strong gains in the professional and business services sector and the state’s low unemployment rate. However, the falling unemployment rate is actually being driven by Connecticut’s shrinking labor force, which declined by 2,000 people in September—the fourth consecutive month of losses.”