Unemployment Rates Dip Slightly in West Hartford

Written and reported by Jayme Kunze and Ronni Newton.

Connecticut’s unemployment report looked a little brighter this February, dropping .1 percent to 8.0 percent, according to the state Department of Labor website.   

DOL's January numbers show that in West Hartford, 27,587 people were employed and 2,019 were unemployed for a rate of 6.8 percent. In February, 27,627 people were employed and 1,923 were unemployed for a rate of 6.5 percent.

Despite the improvement, Connecticut also lost 5,700 payroll jobs in February, the DOL website reports.

Based on a Labor Market Area (LMA) analysis, the Hartford area LMA, which includes Hartford and East Hartford as well as West Hartford, experienced a loss of 2,500 jobs, a 0.5 percent decline. According to the DOL, the major Connecticut LMAs are estimated and seasonally adjusted independently from the statewide numbers.  

The release on the state website speculated that a winter storm that hit before the DOL survey sampling week could have impacted the February results.

“Though our data can’t point at any specific regions or industry sectors that would confirm the winter storm hampered job growth in February, that result seems likely,” said Andy Condon, Director of the Office of Research. “On the plus side, we continue to see the state’s unemployment rate decline, if only at a modest pace.”

The DOL website also notes that Connecticut has regained 48,600 jobs of the 121,200 seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs that were lost in the recession three years ago.

The DOL report said that nationwide, the February 2013 unemployment is estimated to be 7.7 percent, a decrease of .2 percent from January.

February’s decline in unemployment continues a trend of lower unemployment numbers for the last six months, according to the DOL website.