Jobs For Connecticut Now

According to MSNBC, there is a growing movement in our country to propose legislation that would “ban discrimination against job-seekers who are unemployed.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, several pieces of legislation across the country are working in language to include resolutions that range “from banning advertisements that require current employment to allowing unsuccessful job candidates to sue businesses under the same discrimination laws that apply to bias on the basis of religion, race, gender or national origin.”

We at Jobs for New England Now are interested: Do you think this type of law is needed?

Something almost anyone can agree on is the fact that Connecticut faces a growing budget deficit. However,  the actual size of the fiscal insufficiency seems to be a point of disagreement.

According to the Office of Fiscal Affairs, Connecticut will see a $160 million shortage – while the Office of Policy and Management (an arm of the CT administration) believes that it will only amount to $40 million.

Many believe the deterioration of a state surplus (and adding to the deficit) has to do with the decline of personal income tax associated with the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC has had more citizens take advantage of it than anticipated, therefore a larger monetary amount has been taken than was budgeted for – additionally, the refunds have generally been higher than predicted, leading to a larger chunk of change being taken from the state budget.

The current budget projections aren’t all full of bad news, however. Presently the administration has said it believes the state is “on the path to fiscal stability” and that its “investments in bioscience and business credits should produce thousands of jobs by September 2013.”

In Massachusetts, some residents seem ready to do anything to get a job. Such as create their own by using their own talents and building off of their hobbies.

In a fun piece, The Boston Channel chronicles several entrepreneurs including Erin Sullivan and Molly Baechtold whose venture to take their part-time hobby of trapeze artistry into an acrobatic business seems to be doing well.

According to census data, an astonishing 2,300 people move into entrepreneurship every day. While the piece notes that many may not be successful in their venture, it still brings light to an interesting point that small businesses are a large part of the economy.

With unemployment at 6.8% in Massachusetts, we wonder how much of that percentage can be remedied through policies that encourage the growth of small businesses?

Record low interest rates and huge capital investments by the state are combining to accelerate Connecticut’s economic growth to levels above the national economy. According to a new report from the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, 18,000 new jobs are projected to be added through September 2013. The report cites multiple factors, including construction of a bio-science facility and Technology Park at the University of Connecticut, construction of a bus way between New Britain and Hartford, and record low interest rates, which assists the state’s financial services sector. Together, these initiatives will add another 7,000
direct, indirect, and induced jobs to the already expected job creation of 11,000 over the eight quarters from September 2011 to September 2013.
Fred Carstensen, a UConn economist and director of the CCEA, said the overall picture for the state’s economy is that “there’s a lot of stuff going on right now that looks very encouraging. These projects are going to have a measurable and positive impact on the state’s economy.”
A positive influence on the economy. How could we argue with that?