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New stats point to rebound for pandemic-ravaged CT industries, state officials say

FILE - July 27, 2020: Cameron White works a sewing machine surrounded by piles of white disposable gowns and blue surgical gowns in the Gilman Gear factory in Bozrah, Conn. The company made sports equipment for the NCAA and NFL, but when the sports market collapsed because of COVID-19, it pivoted to making isolation gowns.
Ryan Caron King
/
Connecticut Public
FILE: Cameron White works a sewing machine surrounded by piles of white disposable gowns and blue surgical gowns in the Gilman Gear factory in Bozrah, Conn., July 27, 2020. The company made sports equipment for the NCAA and NFL, but when the sports market collapsed because of COVID-19, it pivoted to making isolation gowns.

Connecticut’s private sector has regained almost 97% of the jobs the state lost in the pandemic shutdown of 2020, according to officials at the state Department of Labor.

The state’s unemployment rate is down to 3.9% from a high of 11.7% in May 2020. “And, our weekly claims filings for unemployment insurance are at [a] historic 35-year low,” said Connecticut Department of Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo. “We haven’t seen these numbers since 1987.”

Certain industries are doing better today than they were prior to the pandemic.

“Construction is actually well above pre-pandemic levels,” said Patrick Flaherty, research director at the DOL.“So is professional and business services, private education, wholesale trade, transportation. A number of industries are well above pre-pandemic levels.”

Both Bartolomeo and Flaherty said that, while it’s mostly rosy, this latest news is not all rosy — particularly when it comes to the employment rate. “We usually see claims fall pretty significantly in February,” Flaherty said. “They did not this year, they stayed at their January level, a low level, but we might have expected to see it fall even lower.”

“Some of the numbers aren't making sense as they always have,” Bartolomeo said. “So we're working really hard to interpret that.”

John Henry Smith is Connecticut Public’s host of All Things Considered, its flagship afternoon news program. He's proud to be a part of the team that won a regional Emmy Award for The Vote: A Connecticut Conversation. In his 21st year as a professional broadcaster, he’s covered both news and sports.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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