Connecticut industries that saw the most job growth last year, and industries with biggest losses

Hiring slowed in December as Connecticut employers added just 600 jobs, but employment rose each month last year as the labor force struggled to emerge from the damage of COVID-19, the state Department of Labor reported Monday.

The unemployment rate dropped to 5.8% from 6% in November. In contrast, the U.S. jobless rate in December was 3.9%.

“Job growth slowed at the end of 2021 but continued to add to the very strong gains from earlier in the year,” said Patrick Flaherty, the Department of Labor’s research director.

On average, Connecticut employers added 4,267 jobs a month, for a total of 51,200 jobs added last year. Connecticut has now recovered 74.6% , or 218,100 jobs of the 292,400 that vanished in March and April 2020 as business lockdowns were ordered by the Lamont administration.

Connecticut’s financial services sector posted fewer jobs in December than at the end of 2020. The construction industry added jobs since the start of the pandemic, posting 60,700 jobs in December, 1,400 more than in February 2020.

The leisure and hospitality industry, which was hit hard by the pandemic, gained nearly 16,000 jobs from December 2020 to the end of last year, a strong 13.4% increase. Still, jobs were off by nearly 23,000 since before the pandemic.

Connecticut’s labor force of 1,570,800 is down 7.5% from a peak of 1,698,500 in November 2019, four months before COVID-19 began spreading through the state. It hit bottom with 1,403,900 in April 2020 as Gov. Ned Lamont and his public health advisers ordered businesses shut to slow the spread of the virus.

What industries posted the biggest job increases last year over 2020?

Leisure and hospitality, up 15,900, 13.4%

Construction, up 4,000, 7.1%

Educational and health services, up 11,300, 3.5%

Manufacturing, up 3,300, 2.2%

What industries posted job losses last year?

Information, down 1,200 jobs, a drop of 4.1%

Financial activities, down 1,300 jobs, a drop of 1.1%

How many workers were hired in Connecticut’s cities?

New Haven, up 11,200, 4%

Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, up 11,100, 3%

Hartford up 7,900, 1.4%

Danbury, up 2,700, 3.8%

Norwich-New London-Westerly, R.I., up 2,700, 2.4%

Waterbury, up 1,500, 2.3%

How did Connecticut’s unemployment rate change during 2021?

Connecticut began the year with an 8.1% unemployment rate in January

It peaked at 8.5% in February.

By June it had fallen to 7.7%

It declined in every month that followed.

Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.