Unemployment Rate at 7-Year Low in June With 2,600 New Jobs

Connecticut employers added 2,600 jobs in June, pushing the state's unemployment rate down to 5.7 percent, the lowest in seven years.

The state Labor Department reported on Monday that the unemployment rate dropped a significant 0.3 percent from May and is the lowest since July 2008, when it was 5.7 percent.

“This is yet another milestone reached – unemployment is down to its lowest point in seven years. This news comes just a month after we created nearly 6,000 jobs, a huge one-month total. We are no doubt making progress, and our strategy is no doubt moving Connecticut forward,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said in a statement. “These numbers represent another achievement reached, another marker that residents’ lives are improving, and another indicator that our economy continues to head in the right direction as a result of our efforts to create jobs. We know that until everyone that wants a job has one, our work is not complete.”

The falling jobless rate is accelerating, with an increase of 27,000 jobs over the year. Connecticut's unemployment rate was still higher than the 5.3 percent U.S. rate.

As the state's economy continues to recover from the recession, the number of unemployed residents has declined by more than 13,000, or 11 percent, since June 2014.

Unemployment peaked at 9.2 percent over five months from October 2010 through February 2011.

Local government employment dropped sharply in June with school closings for the summer.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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