Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JULY 8, 2024 5 What's Trending HBJ wins 3 national business journalism awards CT has added 15,200 jobs in 2024; these sectors are hiring the most Hartford Business Journal was recently named a 'Best Newspaper' by the Alliance of Area Business Publishers, a national business journalism association. The educational and health services sector, which includes nurses and other care providers, has added the most jobs so far in 2024. T he Hartford Business Journal's editorial staff has won three editorial excellence awards from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers, an industry association that represents dozens of business publications from around the country. The awards were presented in late June during AABP's annual summer conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Combined with 2023, HBJ has won 10 AABP awards in the past two years. HBJ received the 2024 awards in the medium-sized tabloids category for: BEST NEWSPAPER, Bronze. The judges said: 'This newspaper delivers a nice mix of news, briefs, features and lists inside each issue. Covers have a consistent, clean design that signals the major stories inside. The writing is straightforward and easy to read. Also, the publication uses charts well to illustrate stories.' BEST BEAT REPORTING, Economics and Finance, Michael Puffer, Silver. The judges said: 'High interest rates and a collapsing commercial real estate market will have implications for Hartford. A story on how one of Hartford's largest owners is navigating the future of financing its downtown buildings no doubt was read closely by local business owners. The wave of consolidation of credit unions – cutting the number nearly in half – has real implications, and this great piece of reporting explains the breadth of implications for the state. A final piece puts a number on what everyone already knew – that high interest rates and changing work habits have killed the market for commercial real estate. This is reporting that matters to a community.' Stories submitted for consideration: • "Amid consolidation wave, CT has lost 45% of its credit unions in 15 years" • "Wave of commercial loan matur- ities puts office landlords and lenders on edge" • "Higher interest rates, economic uncertainty sink CT commercial realty sales volume" BEST EDITORIAL, Gold, Greg Bordonaro, "Business community must step up efforts to promote Hart- ford, other CT cities." The judges said: 'Looking beyond the usual argu- ments for why businesses leave the city and state – high costs of living and doing business and over-reg- ulation – this piece uses the latest defection to nearby Boston to identify a problem the city can address: Promoting its trained and skilled work- force capable of attracting business. A table of comparison data between Connecticut and Massachusetts backs up the claim that the city and state have a competitive workforce and suggests local business leaders are not adequately promoting that.' "It's a great accomplishment by our editorial staff to be recognized in a national competition among some of the best business journals in the country," said HBJ Editor Greg Bordonaro. "HBJ's editorial team works hard every day to keep our readers informed in print and online with the latest business news from around the region." "These awards reflect our strong investment in and commitment to independent journalism that keeps the business community informed," said Hartford Business Journal Publisher Tom Curtin. "With HBJ's broader statewide focus and expanded news- room, we plan to have an even greater reach and impact on local business journalism across Connecticut." HBJ's sister publications — Worcester Business Journal and MaineBiz, which are all owned by New England Business Media — took home several awards as well. By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com T he state added about 4,700 jobs in May, causing the unemployment rate to drop slightly to 4.3%, according to the state Department of Labor's preliminary data. It was the fifth consecutive month of job growth, with employers adding an average of 3,043 jobs per month in 2024, according to the DOL. Since the beginning of 2024, total employment is up 15,200 in Connecticut, the DOL said. Employ- ment rose 18,400 in 2023. The educational and health services sector has led job growth so far in 2024, adding 8,300 jobs through the first five months of the year, DOL data shows. The leisure and hospitality sector has been the second-largest growth sector, adding 3,600 jobs. The trade, transportation and utilities sector has contracted the most this year, down 1,300 jobs through May. Meantime, the state's private sector employment peaked at an all-time high of 1.48 million jobs, surpassing the previous record of 1.46 million jobs set in December 2018, the agency said in its monthly jobs report. Overall, Connecticut had 1.71 million jobs at the end of May, the highest number since the 2008 financial crisis. However, Connecticut still has 9,900 fewer jobs than it did in March 2008. Connecticut has recovered 104.3% of its pre-pandemic employment, according to the DOL. Patrick Flaherty, the DOL's director of research, said that seasonally adjusted employment, meaning temporary summer jobs, played a large role in overall job gains in May. In May, the state's labor force participation rate increased to 64.7%, just above the national rate of 62.5%, according to the DOL. Connecticut had 90,000 jobs available in April, based on the latest data available. The DOL also says that the average hourly wage for private industry employees was $37.70 in May, up $2.34, or 6.6%, from a year ago. HBJ Editor Greg Bordonaro contrib- uted to this story. These sectors have added the most jobs in CT in 2024 TOTAL JOBS TOTAL OVERALL SECTOR ADDED IN 2024 JOBS IN CT EDUCATIONAL AND HEALTH SERVICES 8,300 364,800 LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY 3,600 156,900 CONSTRUCTION AND MINING 1,800 63,300 GOVERNMENT 1,600 234,900 FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES 1,300 118,800 MANUFACTURING 800 158,700 INFORMATION 100 30,300 PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES -200 220,700 OTHER SERVICES -900 64,100 TRADE, TRANSPORTATION AND UTILITIES -1,300 297,900 Note: These are jobs added from January through May 2024. | Source: CT Dept. of Labor ADOBE STOCK IMAGE

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