The empty storefronts you passed as you were window-shopping this weekend are a sign of what is happening all over the state.
Connecticut businesses are having the worst quarter they have had in nine years.
Businesses are struggling to stay afloat, despite national numbers that suggest the recession has bottomed out, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, the state’s chief business registrar, said.
Between January and March, 3,500 Connecticut businesses closed, setting a record no one really wanted to set.
This is the highest first quarter number of closings since the state began tracking closures in 2000, Bysiewicz said.
Not only were more businesses closing, but fewer entrepreneurs were setting up shop in Connecticut.
During the first quarter, about 6,900 businesses started up. This is the lowest number of first-quarter openings since 2001.
Local
Nearly 13,500 businesses in the state filed paperwork last year to dissolve, the highest number on record.
