WETHERSFIELD — Connecticut employers added 600 jobs in June as the unemployment rate dropped to 5.7 percent, the lowest in seven years.
The state Labor Department reported Monday that 2,600 private sector jobs were added, pushing the unemployment rate down a significant 0.3 percent from May. It’s the lowest since July 2008 when it was 5.7 percent.
Local government employment dropped sharply in June with school closings for the summer.
Connecticut’s unemployment rate was still higher than the 5.3 percent U.S. rate.
As the state’s economy continues to recover from the recession, the number of unemployed residents has declined by more than 13,000, or 11 percent, since June 2014. Still, Connecticut has recovered just 82 percent of the 119,000 lost jobs.
Unemployment peaked at 9.2 percent over five months from October 2010 through February 2011.
