State of Working Connecticut 2010 (September 2010) (Printer-Friendly Format)
Joachim Hero, M.P.H., Orlando Rodriguez, M.A., and Jacob Siegel
This annual review of wage, employment and job sector trends finds that:
The long-term unemployment rate in Connecticut -- the share of unemployed workers seeking work who have been out of work for 6 months or more -- is the fourth highest in the country at 37%. The underemployment rate -- which includes the unemployed, part-time workers who want to work full-time, and discouraged workers who have stopped looking for work -- is at a historic high for the state, at 14%.
Only the Health and Education job sector experienced substantial job growth since the beginning of the recession, growing by 4.6% from March 2008 through 2010. The state's only successful job sector may be threatened by state budget cuts, since this sector is heavily dependent on public sector investment.
In recent years, middle-wage occupations have experienced the steepest job losses. This group of occupations, which include middle-class jobs have lost 6.8% of their positions between 2006 and 2009. This is a troubling loss of occupations that have traditionally provided living wages.
Racial, ethnic, and gender gaps in wages are much wider in Connecticut than among workers in other states. The median wage for Connecticut's African Americans was only 62% of the white median wage in 2009. Hispanics earned only 60% of the median wage of whites in the state. Connecticut also has the sixth worst gender gap in wages among all states, with women earning 76% of men's median wages.
A supplemental report, "State of Working Connecticut 2010: Trends in Local Labor Market Areas," summarizes local wage, unemployment, and business trends in Connecticut's nine Labor Market Areas: Bridgeport-Stamford, Danbury, Enfield, Hartford, New Haven, Norwich-New London, Torrington, Waterbury, and Willimantic-Danielson. An Excel data file is available with more detailed Labor Market data. (September 2010)
Joachim Hero, M.P.H., Orlando Rodriguez, M.A., and Jacob Siegel
This annual review of wage, employment and job sector trends finds that:
The long-term unemployment rate in Connecticut -- the share of unemployed workers seeking work who have been out of work for 6 months or more -- is the fourth highest in the country at 37%. The underemployment rate -- which includes the unemployed, part-time workers who want to work full-time, and discouraged workers who have stopped looking for work -- is at a historic high for the state, at 14%.
Only the Health and Education job sector experienced substantial job growth since the beginning of the recession, growing by 4.6% from March 2008 through 2010. The state's only successful job sector may be threatened by state budget cuts, since this sector is heavily dependent on public sector investment.
In recent years, middle-wage occupations have experienced the steepest job losses. This group of occupations, which include middle-class jobs have lost 6.8% of their positions between 2006 and 2009. This is a troubling loss of occupations that have traditionally provided living wages.
Racial, ethnic, and gender gaps in wages are much wider in Connecticut than among workers in other states. The median wage for Connecticut's African Americans was only 62% of the white median wage in 2009. Hispanics earned only 60% of the median wage of whites in the state. Connecticut also has the sixth worst gender gap in wages among all states, with women earning 76% of men's median wages.
A supplemental report, "State of Working Connecticut 2010: Trends in Local Labor Market Areas," summarizes local wage, unemployment, and business trends in Connecticut's nine Labor Market Areas: Bridgeport-Stamford, Danbury, Enfield, Hartford, New Haven, Norwich-New London, Torrington, Waterbury, and Willimantic-Danielson. An Excel data file is available with more detailed Labor Market data. (September 2010)
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