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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. - Connecticut added more than 5,000 jobs in July but unemployment rose to 8.5 percent.
Shortly after the jobs reports were released, Gov. Dannel Malloy said he was "skeptical" about the numbers.
Heres what we do know. First, as people flood back into the job market because theyre optimistic they can find work, the unemployment rate goes up," Malloy said in a statement. "Second, its going to take more than 20 months to turn around a state economy that failed, on a net basis, to grow jobs for more than 20 years."
The Connecticut Department of Labor called the 5,100 jobs created "a decent performance for recent times." Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked up fourth-tenths of a percentage point to 8.5 - the highest rate since October.
The complete disagreement between our two key indicators of labor market health in Connecticut make an assessment of market conditions difficult at best this month, Andy Condon, director of the Department of Labor's Office of Research, said on the agency's website.
Connecticut has regained about one-third of the jobs lost during the recession, the Labor Department said.
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