Wilton's Unemployment Rate Slowly Declines

Wilton’s current unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent last month and is three points lower than the current Connecticut unemployment rate of 8.2 percent.

“It’s nothing to get excited about” but it’s still good news, said First Selectman William Brennan at last night’s Board of Selectman meeting. Wilton is “in the top 10 percent” of 169 comparable towns throughout the state. Brennan cited Ridgefield as having an unemployment rate of 5.3 percent and Redding with 5.5 percent.

“The trend has gone down,” said Brennan, noting that while fluctuations differed in percentages from month to month last year, there is a slow, not steep, declination in Wilton’s jobless population.

The new number is down from Wilton’s previous 5.6 percent unemployment rate which . At that time, Connecticut’s overall unemployment rate was 8.4 percent.

The news comes at a time when, while many are still struggling to find a job and are , the national average has shown a decline to 8.3 percent. However, with the inclusion of underemployment—people seeking full time work but are unable to find any—the national unemployment rate becomes 15.1 percent, according to a recent New York Times article.