The preliminary nonfarm jobs estimate from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’s (BLS) monthly business survey indicate Connecticut added 4,800 positions (0.28%) in December 2014 - seasonally adjusted.  Connecticut’s level of nonfarm employment has now increased 26,700 jobs (1.61%) since December 2013 to an estimated level of 1,690,200, another new employment recovery high.  The nonfarm employment increase for November (2,900, 0.17%), however, was revised lower by 1,700 jobs from the original release.

The state’s private sector gained 3,900 (0.27%) nonfarm jobs in December 2014 and is now higher by a healthy 25,700 positions (1.80%) since last December 2013.  The government supersector (900, 0.38% OTM) was also positive in December and is now adding some positions (1,000, 0.42%) over the year. 

The six major industry supersectors that increased jobs from the business survey in December were led by leisure and hospitality (2,100, 1.4%).  Strong gains are coming from the accommodation and food services (1,500, 1.2%) portion of this supersector.  A surprisingly solid gain from the manufacturing supersector (1,200, 0.7%) was also apparent.  Durable goods manufacturers (1,300, 1.0%) were the major contributor.   Education and health services (1,200, 0.4%) posted a strong monthly gain driven by the health services (1,300, 0.5%) component.  The government (900, 0.4%) supersector also was a job gainer last month with federal, state, and local government entities all contributing.  The information supersector (400, 1.3%) and the other services (400, 0.6%) supersector added a similar number of jobs in December.

The job losses in the four declining supersectors in December were all below a thousand and were led lower by the combined construction and mining (-600, -1.0%) supersector.  The trade, transportation & utilities (TTU) (-500, -0.2%) supersector was also down in December 2014 with wholesale trade (-500, -0.8%) and transportation and utilities (-1,100, -2.0%) lower, while the retail trade portion still added positions (1,100, 0.6%).  Smaller job losses came from the professional, scientific, and technical (-200, -0.1%) supersector and the financial activities supersector (-100, -0.1%).  The financial activities supersector (-2,400, -1.8%) is now the only industry supersector to have lost jobs over the year.  TTU remains the best growing supersector over the year (7,700, 2.6%) driven by retail trade (6,500, 3.5%).