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Every year, the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS)
provides a great deal of detailed
data on the characteristics of
Connecticut's workforce in the
publication called Geographic
Profile of Employment and Unemployment,
which is based on
annual average data from the
Current Population Survey (CPS).
Below are some of the findings for
1996, the latest year available,
along with some comparisons from
ten years earlier.
Connecticut Workforce
In 1996, nearly seven of every
ten (68.2%) Connecticut residents,
16 years and older, participated in
the labor force. By comparison,
the U.S. and New England labor
force participation rates were
slightly lower at 66.8% and 68.1%,
respectively. While this was an
increase for the nation (from
65.3%) and New England (from
68.0%) since 1986, Connecticut's
participation rate actually fell from
69.9% a decade earlier.
As the chart below shows, the
largest portion of the workforce in
1986, was employed in the administrative
support (including clerical)
occupational group, making up
17.3% of all workers. Ten years
later, however, this shifted to
17.7% of the total employed
persons working in the executive,
administrative, and managerial
occupational group. The professional
specialty category saw an
increase in its job share from
14.9% to 17.6% between 1986 and
1996. Other occupational groups
with increases in employment
share included technicians and
related support, and service. Those
with a decline in employment
share between the two periods
were administrative support (including
clerical); precision production,
craft, and repair; and operators,
fabricators, and laborers. This
supports the common belief that
today's economy is moving
toward hiring more educated
and highly skilled workers,
while persons with less education
and skill are facing more
limited job prospects.
The data further confirm
that Connecticut workers
shifted from manufacturing
jobs to service jobs over the
decade, as the percentage of
workers in manufacturing
declined from 26.2% to 17.7%.
The services industries now
employ more than one of every
four workers (27% in 1996), while
nearly the same percentage of
workers can be found in wholesale
and retail trade (17.3%) as in
manufacturing.
Women In The Workforce
From 1986 to 1996, the composition
of Connecticut's labor force
has changed as women have
entered the workforce in increasing
numbers. Chart below shows that
their participation rate increased
from 60.8% in 1986 to 62.5% in
1996 as a consequence of socioeconomic
changes such as the rise of
single-parent households and the
decline in buying power over the
last decade. By contrast, men's
participation rate decreased from
80.0% to 74.5% over the same
period.
As more women entered the
labor force, many were drawn to
part-time jobs. In 1996, almost
one third (31.1%) of working
females worked part time, while
this was the case for only 11.8% of
men (chart below). About 36% of
the women cited seasonal work,
job started or ended, own illness,
child-care problems, other family
or personal obligations, labor
dispute, in school or training, and
civic or military duty as reasons
for working part time. Many
women worked in the services and
trade sectors, where part-time
positions are plentiful. In 1996,
more than a third of women
worked in the services industry,
and almost 17% in the trade
sector. For men, despite the
overall decline, almost one in four
were still employed in
manufacturing in 1996.
Although many
women still worked in
the administrative support
(including clerical)
and service occupations
in 1996, nearly one in
five females also worked
in the professional field,
which was a higher
proportion than men in
the same field. Even
more women were employed in
management positions than previously,
rising in employment share
from 11.6% in 1986 to 16.2% in
1996, as their share in the sales
and administrative support occupations
declined. A greater proportion
of women workers entered
technical fields than ten years
earlier as well, as men's share in
that field actually declined over the
same time.
A Diverse Workforce
Blacks and Hispanics now
make up a larger share of the
working-age population than they
did ten years ago. They constituted
6% and 3%, respectively, of
the total labor force in 1986. By
1996, the figures had grown to
10% for blacks and 5% for Hispanics.
The number of whites in the
labor force, on the other hand,
shrank from 93% in 1986 to 88%
in 1996 (detail for race and Hispanic-
origin groups will not add to
totals because data for the "other
races" group are not presented and
Hispanics are included in both the
white and black population
groups). These figures show that
minorities have undoubtedly
become a significant part of State's
workforce. Indeed, the number of
blacks and Hispanics working full
time grew dramatically, by almost
50% each over the decade, while
the number working part-time
doubled.
In 1986, the managerial and
professional fields employed the
greatest percentage of whites,
while the largest percentage of
blacks held jobs in the administrative
support, including clerical
category. But a decade later,
greater proportions of blacks were
working in service occupations,
and their share of workers in the
managerial and professional
specialty group was on the increase.
The number of Hispanics
who worked in the precision
production field fell dramatically
from 17.1% in 1986 to 6.8% in
1996. They also moved in greater
numbers to service and professional
jobs. In fact, a higher proportion
of Hispanic than
black workers was
employed in the
professional field in
1996.
Involuntary Part-Timers
Connecticut had a total of 40,000
involuntary parttime workers in
1996. These are persons who work
part time for economic reasons
which include: slack work or
unfavorable business conditions,
inability to find full-time work, and
seasonal declines in demand. Men
had a larger share of involuntary
part-time workers (17.2%) than
women did (9.1%) in 1996. Almost
one in four (22.6%) blacks worked
as involuntary part-timers, while
this was the case for 16.7% of
those of Hispanic origin. Among
whites, 10.4% said they had to
work part time involuntarily.
Hours Of Work
In 1996, out of those who
usually worked full time, the
biggest reason for working less
than 35 hours a week was due to
weather-related curtailments
(32%). For workers who usually
worked part time, the major factor
for working less than 35 hours was
attributed to other family or
personal obligations (28%). This
was especially the case for women
(37%), whereas four out of every
ten men said that being in school
or training caused them to work
less hours. For those not at work,
over half of the persons with a job
said they were on vacation at the
time of the survey. About 23%
cited their own illnesses as reason
for not being at work in 1996.
Unemployment
Any comparison of unemployment
in the years 1986 and 1996
needs to consider the difference in
economic conditions in the two
years. In 1986, Connecticut was
in the midst of an economic boom.
The State had a very low unemployment
rate of 3.8%, compared
to 5.7% in 1996. Unemployment
rates were higher in 1996 than in
1986 among all population groups.
Joblessness for blacks was 14.4%
in 1996, compared with 6.3% in
1986. The Hispanic labor force
had 17.3% who were unemployed,
up from 10.7% in 1986. White
women experienced the lowest rate
of 4.6% in 1996; white men had
the lowest rate, 3.4%, ten years
earlier.
Those who involuntarily lost
jobs made up over half (52.7%) of
the total number of unemployed
persons in 1996. Reentrants, who
previously worked but were out of
the labor force prior to beginning
their job search, made up 30.5% of
the total unemployed. The biggest
change that occurred between
1986 and 1996 was a significant
decline in the proportion of voluntary
job leavers, from 20.4% to
9.7%, suggesting a much tighter
job market and less job security in
1996 than in 1986.
In 1986, almost half (46.9%) of
the total unemployed experienced
jobless spells lasting less than 5
weeks. In contrast, despite the
recovery from the recession of the
early '90s, the 1996 unemployment
rate was significantly higher
at 5.7%. That translated to only a
third (30.6%) being unemployed for
less than 5 weeks. About 23.5%
remained unemployed for more
than 15 weeks in 1986, whereas
people in this category represented
36.6% of the unemployed in 1996.
Of these long-term unemployed,
18.8% were without a job for more
than 27 weeks, compared to 13.6%
back in 1986. Moreover, one out
of every ten unemployed persons
in 1996 had been looking for a job
for over a year.
The above shows just some of
the many findings on characteristics
of the labor force published
annually in Geographic Profile of
Employment and Unemployment.
This publication is available from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Publication Center in Chicago,
phone number: (312) 353-1880.
The 1996 annual averages are
contained in the most recent
edition, Bulletin 2498.
Biotechnology is a growth
industry in Connecticut. The emergence of this cluster is
a prime example of the cluster
concept: groups of industries
that create products or services
related by a common technology,
market, or need, and the
firms that support them.
Connecticut offers proximity to
three major research centers
critical to biotech. Yale, especially
its Medical Center, is one
of the top-funded research
institutions in the U.S. The
University of Connecticut Health
Center and its Schools of Medicine
and Dental Medicine in
Farmington plus the Storrs
campus receive total research
funding in excess of $112
million per year. Potential exists
at Avery Point and Stamford.
As home to four major pharmaceutical
companies, namely,
Bayer, Pfizer, Bristol Myers
Squibb, and Boehringer
Ingelheim, Connecticut is also
the headquarters of several new
and established bio-technology
firms: Alexion, CuraGen,
Genaissance, Image Content
Technologies, Institute for
Pharmaceutical Discovery,
Neurogen, Protein Sciences
Corporation, Sea-Free Fish
Company, Vion Pharmaceuticals,
and Xicon Technologies.
Employment in SIC 283 (pharmaceuticals)
and SIC 384
(medical devices) now tops 17,000.
Another example of this
cluster's strength is the publicprivate
partnership with Pfizer.
A $216 million investment by
Pfizer in new laboratory/office
space in New London will create
about 2,000 new jobs.
Commissioner James F.
Abromaitis of the Connecticut
Department of Economic and
Community Development announced
that Connecticut communities
authorized 1,203 new
housing units in June 1998, a
35.8 percent increase compared to
June of 1997 when 886 were
authorized.
The Department further indicated
that the 1,203 units permitted
in June 1998 represent an
increase of 14.4 percent from the
1,051 units permitted in May
1998. The year-to-date permits
are up 15.1 percent, from 4,616
through June 1997, to 5,313
through June 1998.
"The 15 percent increase
through the first half of 1998 is
encouraging, especially coming
after a 1997 that recorded the
highest permit growth in nearly a
decade," Abromaitis said.
"Homebuilding is one of the
anchors of our economy, and the
housing sector continues to show
great strength."
Reports from municipal officials
throughout the state indicate
Tolland County with 161.7 percent
showed the greatest percentage
increase in June compared to
same month a year ago. Fairfield
County followed with a 135.3
percent increase.
Fairfield County documented
the largest number of new, authorized
units in June with 353.
Hartford County followed with 277
units and New Haven County had
179 units. Danbury led all Connecticut
communities with 120
units, followed by Ellington with
64 and Newtown with 49.
Last month, we reported in
this space that "warning
flags may be flying from the
Connecticut coincident and leading
employment indexes." Since
month-by-month movements in
economic data are noisy, we also
indicated that "the warning may
a false alarm and not a sign of bad
things to come." This month's data
provide a vote against these
warning flags and a vote for
continued expansion. That is, both
the coincident and leading employment
indexes reached new peaks
in the current expansion with the
release of (preliminary) May data.
The Connecticut coincident
employment index, a barometer of
current employment activity, last
reached its current level in September
1990. Connecticut's leading
employment index, a barometer
of future employment activity,
last reached its current level in
August 1989. Non-farm employment,
one of the components of
the coincident index, has returned
to its February 1990 level on
several occasions in recent months
and currently falls only 37,000
below its previous peak in February
1989. The unemployment rate,
another component of the coincident
index, last reached 3.8
percent, its level in three recent
months including May, in August
1989. In other words, the economy
has returned to an overall condition
last experienced in the late
1980s, but without the serious
imbalances and excesses associated
with that period.
As the state economy throws a
party, some regions have not yet
fully participated in it. Of the five
large cities, only Stamford has
seen the good times roll. Bridgeport,
Hartford, New Haven, and
Waterbury have lagged behind in
the current recovery. Moreover, the
cities in Connecticut are much
smaller geographic areas than is
the norm in rest of the nation,
which tends to concentrate reported
inner-city problems.
Connecticut's long-term future
cannot ignore the fate of the inner
cities. While growth in the state
economy offers help for the inner
cities, this growth cannot fully
address the economic problems
that they face. Public policy makers,
civic leaders, and the citizens
of Connecticut need to consider
additional remedies.
In summary, the coincident
employment index rose from 88.2
in May 1997 to 95.2 in May 1998.
All four index components continue
to point in a positive direction
on a year-over-year basis with
higher nonfarm employment,
higher total employment, a lower
insured unemployment rate, and a
lower total unemployment rate.
The leading employment index
rose from 89.9 in May 1997 to
92.3 in May 1998. All five index
components sent positive signals
on a year-over-year basis with a
lower short-duration (less than 15
weeks) unemployment rate, lower
initial claims for unemployment
insurance, higher Hartford helpwanted
advertising, higher total
housing permits, and a longer
average work week of manufacturing
production workers.
SOURCE: Connecticut Center for or Economic Analysis, University of Connecticut. Developed by Pami Dua [Economic Cycle
Research Institute; NY,NY] and Stephen M. Miller [(860) 486-3853, Storrs Campus]. Campus]. Kathryn E. Parr (860) 486-0485, Storrs Campus provided research support.
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