Workers have reasons to worry? - New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)

By Angela Carter Register Staff

NEW HAVEN -- Stagnating wages and racial and ethnic wage gaps inConnecticut reveal longer-term economic problems that may threatenthe ability of many families to weather the recession, according toresearch released Friday by Connecticut Voices for Children.

Voices, a research policy think -tank in New Haven, issued the"State of Working Connecticut, 2009" in partnership with theEconomic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

"The decline in connecticut jobs since the beginning of therecession has been severe and it has also been abrupt," said JoachimHero, co-author of the report along with Tamara Kramer.

Unemployment in Connecticut is higher than at any time since 1977and reached the highest levels during July in the state"s largestcities: 11.6 percent in Bridgeport, 13.9 percent in Hartford, 11.7percent in New Britain and 12.7 percent in Waterbury.

New Haven"s unemployment rate for July was 11.1 percent.Statewide, the rate was 7.8 percent.

State data for August had not been released as of Friday.

"High unemployment is a concern for a number of reasons beyondthe stresses that joblessness can place on households. Unemploymentis linked with the poverty rate, which tends to fall whenunemployment falls and rise when unemployment rises," the reportsaid.

"High unemployment also places an increased stress on statebudgets as laid-off workers qualify for unemployment insurance andstate-administered health care and other safety net programs thatstep in to help tide families over through periods of economicuncertainty," the report said.

Most heavily affected, the report said, are blacks, Hispanics andpeople without high school degrees. Connecticut"s racial and ethnicunemployment gap is higher than the gap for New England or thenation, researchers found.

Also, median wages for blacks and Hispanics were only about 60percent of the median wages for whites.

In 2008, the most recent year for which wage data is available,the reported median hourly wage in Connecticut of $19.72 was higherthan in any other state.

Between 2006 and 2008, there have been strong gains for median,high-wage and very high-wage residents, compared to modest or nogains for low-wage and very low-wage workers, the report said.

Hero said the available wage data can be difficult to interpretbecause it misses the latter half of the recession, and labor marketconditions can change rapidly.

"You have to interpret wage trends understanding that Connecticutis one of the most costly states to live in," Hero said.

Voices Executive Director Jamey Bell offered recommendations fromthe report that would help the state restore broader economicopportunities.

She said leaders should "rethink" economic developmentstrategies, ramp up supports for families of lower-wage workers andworkers who have lost their jobs, expand public investment ineducation and training and avoid budget cuts that would result infurther job losses.

"We need a strategic, long-term plan to build a stronger economythat works for all families and values their work," Bell said.

Angela Carter can be reached at 789-5752 oracarter@nhregister.com.