Economics Professor Issues State Economic Forecast

FAIRFIELD — The state reached a six-year job low in March 2004, but real personal income and gross state product grew in early 2004 and more job and economic gains are expected in the coming year, according to Edward Deak, PhD, Roger Lynch Professor of Economics at Fairfield University.

Dr Deak, who reported his findings to the New England Economic Project this month, said a dip in the number of unemployment compensation claims in April 2004 is good news for the state’s workforce. “This was a sign that work was picking up sufficiently to encourage employers to hold onto the number of workers that they currently have,” said Dr Deak, NEEP’s Connecticut model manager.

A series of state tax increases bridged a looming $1.2 billion budget gap, but loss of state funding is beginning to affect local budgets, which may mean modest municipal job cuts and lower spending increases, Dr Deak said. In addition, several state firms, including Sikorsky Aircraft, Clairol, Pratt & Whitney and Oxford Health, are on NEEP’s “watch list” for possible job reductions.

Dr Deak, who is frequently sought out by the media for his economic forecasts and commentary for economic stories, is the author of The Economics of eCommerce and The InternetI (Southwestern Thomson Learning 2003).