Some pretty grim forecasts coming out of Connecticut this morning, and sadly we aren’t talking about the possibility of Hurricane Bill making its way up the East Coast. According to a new report from the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, Connecticut could lose an additional 35,000 jobs over the next year, leaving it with 1.62 million — fewer than in 1990. The Hartford Courant outlined the report in this morning’s paper indicating that “the [it] cites weak housing construction and state budget cuts as reasons for its job forecast, which some other economists in the state called ‘pessimistic’ but ‘plausible.’” The report also said that since Connecticut’s employment peaked in March 2008, 70,200 jobs have already been lost here (leaving a total of 1.64 million at the end of June), and as the Courant indicates, even more layoffs could be coming from some of the state’s larger employers in the months ahead.
All this gloomy news should be yet another reason for policymakers and the business community to work together to find new ways to make Connecticut and Greater New England, more competitive and attractive for new businesses. If there isn’t a new enthusiasm for working together on this, the job situation for many deserving residents is not going to get better any time soon. We need our policymakers to be thinking about how they can create incentives for companies to come and invest in New England, how they can reward innovation, and how they can make our region a more competitive landscape. (Unfortunately, we doubt offering an increased surcharge on corporate profits does that, but we will hope for the best as the budget talks proceed.)
In the months ahead, our organization will be addressing how competitive New England has been with other regions of the country, and how we compare to those regions that are providing incentives for businesses to open their doors, but the reports from this morning should be a strong indicator to all New England residents and policymakers alike, that if we cannot identify ways to bring about a more attractive business environment, we are bound to see even more job loss. The skies may be grey today, but we are hopeful that with cooperation and some renewed enthusiasm between the business community, policymakers, and groups like ours, the forecasts will begin to get better…
