by Brent Addleman
Unemployment is slowly recovering in Connecticut, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Labor.
In its latest Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims report, there was an increase in 18,000 initial claims filed throughout the country for the week ending April 9, with a total of 185,000 claims. The four-week moving average for the number of claims filed was set at 172,250, which was adjusted by 2,000 from the previous week’s number.
For the week ending April 9, Connecticut saw an increase of 254 new unemployment claims being filed for a total of 2,351. The previous week’s total was 2,097, according to the report.
For insured unemployment claims, the state saw a decrease of 1,504 to put the number filed for the week ending April 2 at 21,710. The previous week total was 23,214.
The state did see a decrease of 33 in extended benefit claims. On March 19, there were 56 extended benefits claims filed, which dropped to 23 on March 26.
Meanwhile, the state saw a drop of 114 claims filed for the week ending April 2, with a total of 2,097 filed. In addition, there was a drop of 3,538 claims from one year ago.
For insured claims for the week ending March 26, the state saw a drop of 2,083 from the previous week with a total of 23,214 claims filed. The drop from one year ago was tabbed at 56,884.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate for March was listed at 3.6%. Using February’s numbers, Connecticut’s unemployment figures were put at 4.9%, tied with New York for 43rd in the country. Nebraska and Utah had the lowest unemployment at 2.1%, while the District of Columbia came in at 6.1%, the highest in the country.
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Brent Addleman is an Associate Editor and a veteran journalist at The Center Square with more than 25 years of experience. He has served as editor of newspapers in Pennsylvania and Texas, and has also worked at newspapers in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Kentucky.
