Hartford Jobless Rate Reaches 13.5 Percent
The state unemployment rate was 8 percent in May
By SUSAN GOODMAN
Updated 9:28 AM EDT, Fri, Jul 3, 2009
The national jobless figures are the highest they have been since 1983, and Connecticut cities are reeling with layoffs and unemployment.
As news comes that the national rate reached 9.5 percent, some of this state's cities have far worse rates.
The city of Hartford had the state's highest unemployment rate in May, at 13.5 percent, according to Connecticut's Economic Digest. The city has 6,848 unemployed. The state’s unemployment rate in May 2009 was 8 percent, up from 5.4 percent in May 2009.
The impact was clear as dozens of people lined up outside CT Works in Hartford.
"There isn't to much going on in downtown Hartford, so I'm not surprised the numbers are highest in Hartford. We had a lot of business that folded up or moved to other places," John Provenzano, of Torrington, said.
Waterbury had the second-worst rate in May, with 13 percent and 6,632 unemployed but Bridgeport had the highest number of unemployed -- 7,419, or 11.6 percent.
The unemployment rates in Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, Stamford and Waterbury - the state's five most populous cities - rose at least 2.5 percentage points from May 2008 to May 2009.
First Published: Jul 2, 2009 10:02 AM EDT
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