HARTFORD, Conn. — The state's three-month average unemployment rate is below 8%, triggering off the high extended benefits program, the Connecticut Department of Labor (CT DOL) reported Thursday.
The unemployment rate for July was reported to be 7.3%.
CT DOL stated Connecticut added about 9,400 jobs in July and had regained 67% of jobs lost during the pandemic lockdown in March and April 2020.
The department said unemployment weekly filings have dropped week to week since late February and continue to trend downward. While Connecticut's weekly filers are numbered at 130,000 people, up considerably against a pre-pandemic number of 40,000 filers, it's still down from its peak in May 2020 at 400,000 filers.
“Sixteen months after a global pandemic created an unprecedented economic lockdown, Connecticut’s economy and job market are showing strong and consistent signs of recovery," said Interim Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo. "As childcare capacity increases, schools go back into session, and vaccinations continue, more workers are entering the job market—some are finding higher-paying jobs, some are making major career changes. It’s a job seeker’s market and the timing works well with the end of federal programs approaching on September 4.”
CT DOL said July marked seven consecutive months of job gains and the largest monthly gain in 2021.
Nationally, the unemployment rate hit a pandemic low.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims fell by 29,000 to 348,000. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, also fell — by 19,000, to just below 378,000, also a pandemic low.
The weekly pace of applications for unemployment aid has fallen more or less steadily since topping 900,000 in early January. The dwindling number of first-time jobless claims has coincided with the widespread administering of vaccines, which has led businesses to reopen or expand their hours and drawn consumers back to shops, restaurants, airports and entertainment venues.
Still, the number of applications remains high by historic standards: Before the pandemic tore through the economy in March 2020, the weekly pace amounted to around 220,000 a week. And now there is growing concern that the highly contagious delta variant could disrupt the economy's recovery from last year's brief but intense recession. Some economists have already begun to mark down their estimates for growth this quarter as some measures of economic activity, like air travel, have started to weaken.
Last week's drop in applications for aid was larger than many economists had expected, a sign that the job market's recovery remains on track for now despite the worries surrounding the spread of the delta variant.
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