Long-Term Job Gains Forecast In Connecticut

FAIRFIELD — The state reached a four-year job low in July 2004 and the Connecticut job loss rate of 3.57 percent outpaces that of the 2.1 percent national average, according to Edward Deak, PhD, Roger M. Lynch Professor of Economics at Fairfield University.

Dr Deak, who reported the results of his research to the New England Economic Project this month, said that Connecticut is expected to see an improvement in employment over the next two years. Dr Deak predicts the employment total will increase by 21,000 in 2005 and 19,000 in 2006.

“Assuming the absence of destabilizing external shocks, or a premature halt to the US expansion, the Connecticut recovery should continue at a steady pace,” Dr Deak said.

Dr Deak reports that despite the recent job losses in Connecticut, Real Gross State Product grew in the last three years, and is expected to rise by 4.1 percent in 2004, bringing the total to $167.1 billion.

“With expected gains of $6 billion plus in 2005 and 2006, the rise in RGSP attests to the productivity of the Connecticut workforce,” Dr Deak said.