State's Unemployment Below 7 Percent For First Time In Five Years

[NutmegYankee]

The unemployment rate in Connecticut dropped below 7 percent in April, its lowest rate in more than five years, state officials said Thursday. But for the 15 years prior to that, the state's unemployment rate had never been that high.

The state's unemployment rate can be ambiguous, both because the survey sample is small, and therefore not terribly precise, and because it can fall for reasons other than more people getting hired.

This time, however, the data show that the unemployment rate ticked down from 7 percent to 6.9 percent as people got jobs — not because they retired or decided to stay home to take care of relatives or went back to school.

"The expanding labor force, growing private-sector work hours and diminishing unemployment are encouraging signs for Connecticut's economy," said Andy Condon, director of the state Department of Labor's Office of Research. "Even though the pace of Connecticut's employment recovery is moderate, it seems to be on solid footing."
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-connecticut-unemployment-20140515,0,555529.story