Census Work Boosts State Jobs Figures

Connecticut added jobs in May – the fifth consecutive month of positive employment news.  The state showed an overall increase of just over 5,000 jobs in the month, although officials caution that much of that increase can be attributed to temporary census work. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Connecticut has now added almost 15,000 jobs since last December, and May saw the state’s unemployment rate tick downwards to 8.9%. 4,900 of the 5,200 jobs created in May were for temporary census workers, but Nick Perna, chief economic adviser to Webster Bank says the underlying trend is still positive over the first half of the year.

“There’s 10,000 new jobs, created mostly by, in fact entirely by the private sector, because state level employment is down. So if you look at it in what’s happened so far in 2010, and even make adjustments for census workers, the news is actually pretty good.”

Perna says there’s still a possibility of a second recessionary dip later this year, but he thinks moderate growth is more likely. Jason Witty of hiring agency Robert Half International in Connecticut says usually at this stage of a recovery, companies are adding largely temporary positions.

“Companies are somewhat cautious to hire on a full time basis until they’re really confident that that head count is needed. However, this time around we have seen an increased demand on the permanent side, specifically in the last 90 to 120 days, in relation to past recessions. And I think that really ties into how deeply and quickly companies cut, coming into this recession.”

The state’s unemployment rate remains higher than one year ago, when in May 2009, it stood at 8.2%.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.