By Keith M. Phaneuf
Connecticut added 3,500 jobs last month, but unemployment remained at 5.7 percent, the state Department of Labor reported today.
The jobless rate is slightly better than the 5.8 percent mark achieved in April 2015. The state has added 20,100 jobs over the past 12 months and 9,800 positions since Jan. 1.
Still, Connecticut is about 23,500 jobs shy of recovering all positions lost in the last recession, which ended more than six years ago.
“Connecticut saw increases in both job counts and labor force participation in April,” said Andy Condon, Director of the Office of Research at the labor department. “As new workers entered or reentered the labor force, the number of unemployed also grew. This explains recent upward pressure on our unemployment rate.”
