Unemployment drops to 5.1%, but so do jobs

Ithaca lost about 1,600 non-farm jobs, while Duthcess and Putnam counties lost 2,900.

The contradictory report stems from a reliance on estimates derived from separate surveys: unemployment is calculated from a residential survey, while job losses and gains come from businesses.

For the second month in a row, the state of CT lost jobs, according to numbers released Thursday by the Labor Department. “With more baby boomers retiring and leaving the workforce, we are seeing real impacts of the slowing labor growth”. The state also lost 6,700 jobs in September but Minnesota employment is still up by almost 24,000 for the year.

New Jersey’s jobless rate has lagged neighboring states like Pennsylvania and NY, and the national unemployment rate in October stood at 5 percent.

Minnesota has added 23,929 jobs in the past year for a growth rate of 0.8 percent compared to a 1.9 percent national rate. “I’m genuinely concerned about our ability to generate tangible job gains over the next 12 to 18 months”, said Don Klepper Smith of New Haven’s Datacore Partners.

Over the past year, education and health services has added 11,433 jobs, followed by professional and business services (up 10,271), leisure and hospitality (up 7,792), financial activities (up 3,334), and trade, transportation and utilities (up 770).

Government saw the most job losses, 1,800, of the five major industry sectors.