The October unemployment rate increased a tenth of a percent to 9 percent, according to figures from the Connecticut Department of Labor. One survey showed that 1,200 jobs were added in the previous month despite the uptick in the unemployment rate.
“With October’s results we are, for the first time, showing year-over-year declines in job levels,” said Andy Condon, director of the Department of Labor’s Office of Research. “However, we believe that when we complete our annual benchmark revisions in March, we will be showing as many as 8,000 to 9,000 more jobs in the state than the payroll survey currently indicates. If so, the current year-over-year declines will no longer hold.”
The state’s unemployment rate peaked at 9 percent twice this year. Before July 2012, the previous time unemployment was at 9 percent was April 2011.
In a written statement, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy stressed the severity of the recession that slumped the economy.
“Though not as severe this month as in previous months, the household and business surveys are once again pointing in opposite directions,” Malloy said. “On the one hand, we created 1,200 jobs this month. But on the other, our overall unemployment rate increased slightly. If these conflicting results tell any single story, it’s that more people are attempting to enter the workforce because conditions are beginning to improve.”
The survey shows that the average workweek droped from 34.4 hours in 2011 to 34 hours in October. Average hourly earnings dropped 54 cents to $27.93 in a year.
