The state labor department says Connecticut's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.1 percent in August. Local government job cuts, particularly in schools shut for the summer, far surpassed private sector job gains.
Numbers released Wednesday show non-farm employment overall declined by 6,000 in August. Local government jobs fell by 7,500, and the private sector added 2,300 jobs. The Associated Press reports that labor officials say the pace of job growth this year is accelerating, with an average of nearly 1,800 jobs created a month.
