Even good news for Connecticut’s labor force was the result of a negative trend brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Average annual wages increased in 2020 by 8.1%, to $75,411, according to the state Department of Labor. But that jump was due mostly to the loss of lower wage jobs, which effectively raised the average. Overall, nearly 125,000 jobs in Connecticut disappeared in the pandemic, a 7.5% drop. Hardest hit were food services and accommodations.
The loss of jobs in the state in 2020 was higher than the national average of 6.1% and second largest in New England, after Rhode Island, which posted 8.5% fewer jobs. Job growth in Connecticut was anemic even before the pandemic.
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Connecticut’s labor force shed jobs in all sectors, except one, in the pandemic in 2020
| Sectors | Jobs | |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation and warehousing |
|
3,581 |
| Construction |
|
-2,794 |
| Professional and technical services |
|
-2,992 |
| Educational services |
|
-3,053 |
| Wholesale trade |
|
-3,727 |
| Health care and social assistance |
|
-7,566 |
| Administrative and waste management |
|
-7,720 |
| Manufacturing |
|
-8,073 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation |
|
-8,678 |
| Government |
|
-11,925 |
| Retail trade |
|
-15,099 |
| Other services, except public administration |
|
-18,314 |
| Accommodation and food service |
|
-31,418 |
Source: Connecticut Department of Labor
In tourist-dependent Hawaii, about 99,000 jobs were lost last year, a drop of 15%, the greatest in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Idaho’s labor force was the least affected in the U.S. dropping by 0.5%.
In an official account of how Connecticut’s economy changed in the first public health crisis in a century, a 2020 review of employment and wages in the Connecticut Economic Digest reported that the state’s economy went through three phases.
In what began as a “year unlike any other in recent memory,” there was no impact in employment due to the pandemic from January through March, according to the report by Jonathan Kuchta, a research analyst at the state Department of Labor.
That changed suddenly in April as Gov. Ned Lamont issued orders that shut much of the economy, affecting service jobs in particular, such as restaurant wait staff and hotel workers. That period extended through June.
The last six months of the year, as the Connecticut’s economy reopened, “allowed for the return to some semblance of normalcy,” according to the report. Employment grew quickly from May to September before slowing as the infection rate rose during a second surge of the virus in late 2020.
Overall, employment in private industry, which accounted for 86.2% of workers in Connecticut, fell last year by 7.8%. Government employment also was down, by 5.3%.
But the report offered some good news.
“Despite, and perhaps because of, the pandemic, new business establishment creation was up significantly over the second half of 2020 as the economy reopened,” it said.
New business starts were 5,927 from July to December 2020, compared with 4,908 for the same time period in 2019. The number of businesses rose to 127,003 in 2020, an increase of 2.6% over 2019.
Government worksites increased 0.6% in the state, from 3,347 in 2019 to 3,368 in 2020.
Only one sector grew in 2020. Transportation and warehousing benefited from consumers shopping online as brick-and-mortar stores and malls were closed. That translated to an increase of 3,581 jobs in Connecticut, up 7% in 2020.
The worst-performing industries were accommodation and food services, which shed 31,418 jobs, a drop of 24.4%. Other services such as retail trade, and government each lost more than 10,000 positions.
Retail trade has rallied to pre-pandemic levels, but leisure and hospitality jobs struggle “and it remains to be seen when it will return to levels seen at the end of 2019,” the report said.
Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.
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