Connecticut’s labor force shrunk by another 39,660 people between June of 2022 and June of 2023, a 2 percent reduction, according to numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) included in a recently released report by the Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL).
Connecticut was one of four states in the region that saw a reduction in the size of its labor force, but Connecticut’s decline was markedly larger. Nearby neighbor Massachusetts saw a .9 percent decline in its labor force and Rhode Island saw a .5 percent drop.
Five other states in the region, which extends from Maine to Pennsylvania, saw increases ranging from .7 percent to 2.4 percent, while the United States as a whole posted a 1.8 percent increase in the total labor force.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw Connecticut’s labor force, defined as working aged people seeking a job, drop precipitously following the forced closure of businesses, before bouncing back in 2022.
However, since then the number of people participating in Connecticut’s job market has declined to numbers not seen in a normal economic market since 2016. According to CTDOL’s numbers, Connecticut’s labor force peaked in January of 2022 with 1.956 million workers. Measured from that peak, Connecticut has lost 59,000 employees from the labor market.
The Torrington Labor Market Area (LMA) saw the biggest decline in its labor force, decreasing by 2.6 percent, followed by the Enfield LMA with 2.2 percent and Hartford with 2 percent.
Connecticut’s shrinking labor force has been a source of concern for both businesses and lawmakers since the pandemic. The Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) regularly points to Connecticut’s labor force shortage as a problem in a state that is trying to grow.
In a July 20 press release in response to the state’s latest job numbers, CBIA President Chris DiPentima said Connecticut “must address the factors driving the labor shortage and employment in the state.” There are reportedly over 100,000 job openings needed to be filled.
The Connecticut legislature also responded through a series of bills and budget measures aimed at increasing job numbers and training, particularly for young people, with millions in taxpayer dollars going toward increasing apprenticeship programs, youth employment programs, and programs for education and health care workforce development.
The state’s latest job numbers saw a drop in jobs of 4,600 for the month of June with the biggest decline coming from the information services sector. It was the largest monthly decrease since April of 2020, according to DOL.
Overall, between June 2022 and 2023, financial services, construction and information sectors all saw declining job numbers, but total private sector employment increased by 1.2 percent.
That increase in job numbers, however, is far behind that of the U.S. as a whole, which saw jobs increase by 2.5 percent.
Connecticut’s unemployment rate, which is measured by the number of unemployed compared to the number of employed residents remained steady at 3.7 percent, roughly in line with total U.S. numbers. The latest figures show a little more than 70,000 residents are unemployed, a figure which has been steadily declining, along with the labor force rate, since January of 2022.
**This article was corrected to more accurately reflect CBIA’s press release**
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