The Greenwich Time provided good insights about the slow recovery in job growth in CT. Connecticut is one of only four states that had fewer jobs at the end of 2023 than in March 2008, which was when Connecticut reached its all-time jobs peak.
Business subsidies not working. Despite incentives and subsidies to UBS, RBS/Natwest and Bridgewater Associates, financial sector employment fell 20% since 2008. Even with the presence of ASML, Electric Boat, Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky, statewide manufacturing sector employment fell 12% since 2008 (and fell a whopping 40% since 1993). After the State provided over $1 billion of taxpayer-funded loans, grants and tax breaks to businesses, a jobs boom was not ignited in CT.
Governor says let's try workforce development and infrastructure. Governor Lamont admits that the State should have focused less on subsidies and more on issues such as workforce development, improving infrastructure and reducing the cost of living and doing business in CT. But if we build it, will the companies come?
Maybe it's as simple as lowering taxes by cutting spending and lowering utility costs. CT has some of the highest tax rates in the country, highest utility costs, numerous regulatory impediments and high labor costs. In the 2023 edition of Top States, CT ranked number 43 and received a D grade for the cost of doing business.
We need to figure this out.
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