Health care jobs carry CT’s employment outlook

The current issue of The CT Economic Digest, from the CT Dept. of Labor, reports that between December and April both CT and the US have had four consecutive months of contracting employment. (Apparently this isn’t bad enough for economists to label it a recession yet.) Historically CT’s employment downturns average 24 months while US cycles only average 13.8 months. However the good news for CT is health care. CT created 6,233 new health care jobs in the first quarter of 2008, compared to last year. Most of the gains were at hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities and in ambulatory care. Just behind health care in job creation, government added 4,367 jobs. Job losses were worst in the manufacturing sector. Predictions are that overall CT job losses will continue into next year, but that health care will create 7,970 new jobs between the fourth quarters of 2007 to 2009.
Ellen Andrews