Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Money
  • Election 2020
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Money
    Election 2020
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Economists permit governor a small bow over jobs

  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • April 2, 2012
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Is Gov. Dannel P. Malloy entitled to crow just a bit about Connecticut’s unemployment rate dropping from 9.3 percent to 7.8 percent on his 14-month watch as governor?

“That’s a drop of nearly 20 percent, which is why I, for one, am optimistic that the worst may be behind us,” an upbeat Malloy said Friday, a day after the Department of Labor released the February jobs numbers.

The folks who do economic forecasting are more cautious. They say the unemployment numbers celebrated by Malloy are genuinely good news, but they are one piece of a large, complicated picture.

Malloy

Malloy was upbeat about most questions Friday…

“I don’t want to get too far out in front in leading the parade, saying this will be a banner year for Connecticut. There are head winds out there,” said Edward J. Deak, a Fairfield University economist.

Housing remains lackluster. Oil prices are rising. The Pentagon is looking to cut expenses, always a concern in a state that produces submarines, helicopters, jet engines and other components of military aircraft.

Even Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, the two massive tribal casinos in eastern Connecticut, are facing the prospect of new competition in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York. Foxwoods is struggling to meet its debts.

“When you are talking to an economist, you are talking to someone who is paid to worry about things,” Deak said.

Deak spoke to the Mirror shortly before he was to conduct a conference call of experts in his role as the Connecticut forecast manager for the New England Economic Partnership.

Fred Carstensen, the director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut, said the jobs gains “are real numbers,” based on actual payrolls. But he, too, said they don’t tell a complete story.

“You have to be very careful with any of these short-term things, especially with this bizarre year we’ve had. It’s so warm, things that normally get curtailed in construction didn’t get curtailed,” he said.

Construction jobs in Connecticut increased by 800 in February, a significant chunk of the 4,900 non-farm jobs created last month, according to the state Department of Labor. The Connecticut labor market also added 5,400 jobs in January.

Malloy

…but not all.

Malloy spoke to reporters Friday after the monthly meeting of the State Bond Commission, the panel that gives the final go-ahead to borrow funds for capital projects.

“We are, in fact, creating jobs,” Malloy said. “I appreciate the limits that government can have on job creation, but when we advance projects and shovels hit the ground, that’s someone who’s receiving a paycheck. That’s someone who is supporting their family.”

He acknowledged there always is a question of how much credit or blame any elected official is due over economic upticks or downturns. But he said that a state commitment to the Hartford-New Britain busway and other infrastructure projects clearly is boosting construction.

“Government plays a role,” he said. “If we’re talking about an uptick in construction, we’re playing a leading role in that. We made investments in infrastructure that are quite substantial and are leading to employment gains in the construction sector. That’s a reality.”

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, said many factors are driving the improving jobs picture. He said the governor and legislature are due some credit for the economic incentives during last fall’s bipartisan jobs session.

Governors, whether it is a Democrat like Malloy or a Republican like Mitt Romney, the former Bay State governor McKinney supports for president, are too quick to talk about jobs “we created,” McKinney said.

“I think it’s political speak,” McKinney said. “With respect to the private sector, by and large, we set an environment in which jobs can be created or jobs can be lost.”

Malloy is not alone in expressing greater confidence in the economy. In survey data released Friday, U.S. consumers as a whole felt a little better about the economy in late March, despite concerns about rising oil prices.

Good news about jobs is the reason, according to the monthly Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey.

“The highest proportion of consumers in the history of the surveys spontaneously reported hearing about employment gains,” according to Thomson Reuters.  “Just 19% expected the jobless rate to increase in the year ahead, the lowest level in more than a decade.”

But even the Michigan numbers were mixed. Consumer attitudes about the current state of economy moved upward, but an index of “expectations” slightly dipped.

“Although consumers are not yet optimistic about future economic prospects, pessimism has recently faded at a rapid pace,” Richard Curtin, the survey’s director, said in a statement. “Perhaps too rapidly, as expected job and income gains may be unrealistically high for the economy to meet.”

Malloy also tempered his enthusiasm Friday.

“I also want to say that I know we’re not out of the woods yet,” Malloy said. “We have miles to go before we sleep, but there are still far too many people in our state looking for work.”

But Malloy also noted that unemployment in Connecticut is dropping faster than the national average of 8.3 percent, an unfamiliar development for a state that historically lags the rest of the nation coming out of deep recessions.

“We now lead the national average, so something in happening,” Malloy said.

National and international dynamics shape the state’s economy, but decisions made by Malloy about fiscal policy and public investments also are an influence, the economists say.

The governor relied on a historic $1.5 billion tax increase, along with some spending cuts, to largely erase an inherited deficit of more than $3 billion.

“That was a gamble on his part and legislators’ part, and it looked like the gamble paid off. It doesn’t look like it had a negative effect,” Deak said. “He chose a course of action, and the course of action seems to have stablilized — not quite righted — but stabilized the financial ship of state.”

Deak said another Malloy gamble is the state’s investment in biosciences, particularly the deal to build a genomics institute on the campus of the University of Connecticut Health Center for The Jackson Laboratory, a world-renowned research institution based in Maine.

It will be years before the return on that investment can be assessed, but Deak said Malloy’s promotion of the initiative and his visits to businesses around the state may have some immediate benefit in business confidence.

“I think the biggest thing that has helped to change at least some of the attitude is his investment of his own time and effort in meetings around the state, to talk to business leaders, to talk to consumers. That kind of confidence and outreach tends to rub off on the private sector,” Deak said. He added, “It can’t be all smoke and mirrors.”

Carstensen agreed, saying Malloy and his commissioner of economic development, Catherine Smith, get good reviews for opening lines of communication to employers with an aggressive outreach effort.

“Yeah, feeling that someone is paying attention, that you can actually talk about what your concerns are, that you have entrée, is very important,” Carstensen said.

But like Deak, Carstensen said the outreach is only a good first act. Ultimately, he said, the state has to deliver on Malloy’s promise to improve the regulatory climate for business. And that means quicker decisions on permits.

“Here the Malloy administration is in its second legislative session,” Carstensen said. “Are they addressing that? That’s what the business community is going to say. Where is the beef? Where is the legislative action?”

The administration says the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Department of Economic and Community Development are acting much quicker on permits.

Carstensen said the effort clearly is there, but he is concerned that Malloy may be too distracted by his push for reforming teacher tenure rules and the state’s arcane laws on liquor pricing.

“I worry a little bit about the context of getting the economy strong,” Carstensen said. “There is a danger of losing the sense of urgency the governor and Commissioner Smith brought to the area in their first year. Putting other things on the table may be diverting our attention.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut’s $90M lobbying industry has a new player: former Speaker Joe Aresimowicz
by Mark Pazniokas

Former House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz is becoming a lobbyist, but a revolving-door law limits him for a year.

Spiking tax revenue will wipe out state budget deficit, analysts say
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Projected state revenues skyrocketed by $1.7 billion Friday, positioning officials to balance the next state budget without tax hikes.

Judge approves shorter sentence for convicted murderer turned prison mentor
by Kelan Lyons

The DOC could start screening Clyde Meikle in July for discharge to a halfway house.

Without vocal dissent, Senate confirms Justice Andrew McDonald
by Mark Pazniokas

The state Senate acted quickly Friday to confirm Andrew J. McDonald to a second term on the Supreme Court.

Funding to fix CT’s roads and bridges is drying up, and officials don’t have a solution
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Kasturi Pananjady

Connecticut's transportation building program is on a financial diet after a five-year ramp-up after lawmakers rejected tolls.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Evidence not clear that Trump incited Capitol destruction
by Alan Calandro

Defending President Donald Trump is not popular and I have no interest in writing this other than adherence to truth. Recognizing the truth (if we can find it, which is not always possible of course) should make us be able to come together around that and move on with a common understanding.

Opinion Securing our nuclear legacy: An open letter to President-elect Joe Biden
by Erik Assadourian

Dear President-elect Biden: As you noted in a tweet shortly after protestors stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, “Today is a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile.” Indeed it is. And so are nation-states.

Opinion Last votes of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others
by Gary A. Franks

Finally, the election season is over. The historic elections we saw in this cycle were intriguing. The runoff elections for the U.S. Senate in Georgia put a cap on the campaign season. For many people this could be described as a COVID-19 election. I would argue that this was an election influenced by a pandemic but determined by the killing of unarmed Black people with no adequate justice for the Black community.

Opinion Not just environmental problem; Killingly plant is a great target
by Joel Gordes

In 1990, I was one of five legislators to introduce the first climate change legislation that became PA 90-219, An Act Considering Climate Change, the most popular bill of that session. Back then I considered climate change a national security issue… and I still do.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO