(Wethersfield, CT) – Today, Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL) Interim Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo announced that the state’s unemployment rate continues to drop and is now at 5.8% from November’s 6.0%. Connecticut added 600 jobs in December with job growth in six of ten supersectors.

Commissioner Bartolomeo said, “Connecticut continued to add jobs and the labor force grew in December—both positive signs and indicators of the underlying strength of our economy. Omicron has impacted the economy here and nationally; it’s critical that residents continue to take every precaution against COVID-19 and variants. When we look at overall trends, Connecticut’s economy is headed in the right direction, but economic growth requires a healthy and strong workforce.

CTDOL Director of Research Patrick Flaherty said, “Connecticut continues to add jobs and December was no exception. December’s job growth was slower than it has been in previous months; we didn’t see the big jump in temporary workers that we usually see. The omicron variant and supply chain issues certainly impacted the labor numbers nationally and here in our state, but there are a lot of unfilled positions out there—businesses looking to hire a new workforce.

TOPLINE POINTS FROM THE REPORT:

Connecticut added 600 jobs in December for 12 consecutive months of job growth.
Connecticut has recovered 74.6% of the 292,000 jobs lost during the COVID lockdown.

Manufacturing, Construction, and Other Services—a general category that contains a wide variety of services including barbers and hair salons, auto repair, and parking lots—all showed gains.
November job gains were revised lower for a total of 2,800 jobs added for the month.

#DOLDaily video with economist Patrick Flaherty: Major Takeaways from the December Labor Report