Unemployment Dropping Slowly in Middlebury, Woodbury

Despite the addition of 7,400 new jobs in April and May of this year Connecticut’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8 percent, according to data released this week by the Department of Labor.

Though the rate has remained unchanged for the past four months, labor officials said the jobs picture in Connecticut is looking up.

“With the exception of a storm [that] impacted February, Connecticut has been experiencing consistent job growth so far this year,” said Andy Condon, Director of the Office of Research for the state’s labor department. “The upward turn in labor force participation, after 35 straight months of decline, may indicate increased confidence in labor market conditions. However, there are still headwinds ahead. Federal budget sequester cuts could hinder employment growth possibilities throughout the rest of 2013.”

In Middlebury, the unemployment rate for the town’s labor force of approximately 3,885 is below the state average and, until last month, had been steady at 6 percent since February. At the beginning of the year the town’s unemployment rate was 6.6 percent but dropped to 6 percent in February through April. In May it crept back up to 6.3 percent, according to data released recently by the labor department.

In Woodbury, the unemployment rate among the 5,585-member workforce hit a high of 6.8 percent in February (up from 6.7 in January) before dropping to a low of 5.6 percent in April. Unemployment climbed back to 6.1 percent in May

Since the Great Recession ended, Connecticut has recovered 58,600 jobs, or 48.3 percent of the 121,200 seasonally adjusted jobs that were lost between March of 2008 to February of 2010, labor officials reported.