Connecticut: Unemployment up in state
According to The Middletown Press:
Unemployment is up statewide, state officials say.
Compared with the same period a year ago, claims for unemployment benefits as of Nov. 15 averaged 53,780, up by 17,367 people from last year at this time, according to the Wethersfield-based state Labor Department.
That’s a 47.7 percent increase over last year’s 36,413 people, officials said, and up 4.9 percent in just the two weeks before the report.
“We’re seeing a lot more people entering the unemployment lines than in other states,” Tirinzonie said.
Noting that Connecticut lost 5,900 jobs in the past two months, state labor economist John Tirinzonie was curious as to how Connecticut was doing compared with the rest of the Northeast. So he came up with a chart on employment and unemployment change.
“I wanted to know if we’re at the bottom of the barrel or competitive with other states,” he said.
Tirinzonie charted over-the-year employment change; change in employment since January; and over-the-year unemployment change. The information is similar to information he provides Gov. M. Jodi Rell.
The chart shows Connecticut in the middle of the pack, ranking fourth out of nine states in the Northeast....click to continue.
