November 11, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Some statistics from the report issued yesterday by the New England Economic Partnership:
- Connecticut has lost 79,100 jobs between March 2008 and August 2009.
- Job losses will likely continue through the second quarter of 2010 with a total job loss of 99,400, including 24,800 in manufacturing.
- Jobs will rise slowly, peaking at 1.695 million by the end of 2013, 13,700 below 2008 figures.
- The Connecticut unemployment rate should peak at 8.7% in the middle of 2010, up from 4.4% in the middle of 2006. The rate could still be as high as 5.8% at the end of 2013.
- State income and sales tax revenue should decline along with local property taxes, placing strains on state and local budgets.
- The Connecticut economy is in for a rough ride in 2009-2010 with only a modest recovery expected in 2011-2013. High quality, high paying jobs have been lost in finance, business services and construction. A restructuring of the financial services, banking and insurance industries is expected, with the number and strength of these new jobs affecting the timing and pace of any Connecticut expansion. (emphasis provided)
We shouldn’t need any more economic wake-up calls in Connecticut, but our recent track record isn’t good. We came out of a protracted legislative session with little more than an unsustainable state budget, a budget already out of balance. The next regular session of the General Assembly begins on Feb. 3, 2010. Unless the leadership of the majority party can find a way to work with the minority party, the administration, the business community and others on a strong plan for economic revival, the projections above may be overly optimistic.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:36 am
My observation is that the State of Connecticut is NOT really and truly serious about either saving or creating jobs. Company after company has left the state—Stanadyne being one of the more recent casualties of state policies. Both spending and regulations are totally out of control.