Report: State Continues To Lose Jobs,

Wage Gap Widens

By Susan Haigh

Associated Press

HARTFORD (AP) — Continued job losses and an expanding wage gap are threatening Connecticut’s economy, according to a report released Sunday by a statewide child advocacy group.

The annual State of Working Connecticut report, compiled by Connecticut Voices for Children, determined that low-wage workers are losing ground financially, finding it more difficult to adequately support a family in this state.

Connecticut Voices officials say they worry about how that trend will ultimately affect children.

“I’m hopeful that this report helps policy leaders understand not only the speed with which we’re growing apart, but some of the consequences of allowing that trend to continue,” said Shelley Geballe, co-president of the nonprofit research and advocacy organization.

Connecticut Voices staff, in partnership with the Economic Policy Institute, analyzed data and trends concerning Connecticut workers, including federal labor statistics and US Census data. They found that the state has been losing jobs at a rate that exceeds both national and regional averages.

Between March 2001 and July of this year, Connecticut’s 2.7 percent job loss surpassed the national rate of one percent, and the Northeast regional rate of 1.9 percent.

John Tirinzonie, state labor economist, said Connecticut’s job picture did improve in the first and second quarters of the year. The last two months, however, have been problematic.

The state’s information technology job sector still has not rebounded. However, he said manufacturing jobs — one of the areas hit hardest nationally and in statewide during the recession — are either holding steady or slowly increasing, he said.

Mr Tirinzonie stressed that although Connecticut’s percentage of job losses is higher than the national percentage, the state still has a lower unemployment rate than the national average.

“It’s relative,” he said, referring to the comparison. “Connecticut’s unemployment rate was very, very low.”

The State of Working Connecticut Report also points out how residents with less education were hit hardest by unemployment. In 2003, according to the report, residents without a high school diploma were four times as likely to be unemployed than those with a bachelor’s degree.

With the new legislative session set to open in January, Connecticut Voices offered state officials a list of recommendations. For example, the organization wants the state to increase its investment in public education, especially money for preschool programs that help young children at risk. The group is also recommending the state restore cuts to need-based scholarships and improve training for displaced workers.

Ms Geballe said the group still has not given up hope for a tax on those residents earning more than $1 million a year — a proposal former governor John G. Rowland vetoed several times. Ms Geballe said the additional revenue could be used to create a human capital investment fund or an educational equity fund to finance such programs.

Her group is also calling for ways to help poor families, such as instituting an earned income tax credit, more child care assistance, housing assistance, and extended unemployment insurance benefits. Ms Geballe said such concepts will help reduce the effects of poverty on children.

Gov Jodi Rell, who took over on July 1 after Mr Rowland’s resignation, is focused on trying to create more well-paying jobs in Connecticut by encouraging new businesses to locate here or encouraging existing businesses to expand.

“The governor agrees that people are the most important and valuable resource and she understands that in the current economic climate, too many people have lost their jobs and too many people are having a harder time making ends meet,” said Dennis Schain, Gov Rell’s spokesman.