Gallup: Connecticut Dead Last in Job Creation in 2014

According to a new Gallup survey, Connecticut dropped below every other state in the nation in job creation in 2014, with workers there reporting the worst climate for hiring.

Gallup’s annual ranking of state job markets for the last year found that North Dakota has continued as the state with the best hiring climate, while Connecticut has “consistently ranked in the bottom tier for job creation, and its position at the very bottom in 2014, along with continued low ratings of other New England states and neighboring New York, suggests that is unlikely to change in 2015.”

According to Gallup, North Dakota’s success in job climate is attributed to the “many economic benefits it is enjoying from its recent emergence as a major oil producer.”

In North Dakota, 48 percent of workers last year said their employers are hiring, while 12 percent said their employers are letting workers go, leaving a Gallup Job Creation Index of +36 for that state.

In Connecticut, however, 33 percent of workers said their employers are hiring and 17 percent said letting go, resulting in a Job Creation Index of only +16.

The survey results indicate that Connecticut and Rhode Island are tied for “the worst collective job creation scores since 2008 and are the only states to have ranked in the bottom 10 each year.”

Democrat and Working Families Party Gov. Dannel Malloy was re-elected to a second term as governor last November, and both chambers of the Connecticut legislature are Democrat-led. Additionally, all member of the Connecticut congressional delegation are Democrats.

Regarding job growth, the State Senate Democrats of the Connecticut General Assembly state:

There’s no greater priority for Connecticut than growing and retaining high-quality jobs. During the past several years, Senate Democrats played a critical role in helping to pass legislation to do just that. Below are summaries of our work on this all-important issue over the past few years.

We know there’s more work to be done; and we’re continuing to press on with new legislation designed to help businesses and promote continued job growth.

Connecticut’s state senate Democrats cite as among their 2014 accomplishments to promote job growth the funding of workforce development, i.e., an additional $10 million taxpayer funding given as subsidies to businesses to hire workers, and developing “social benefit corporations,” an “alternative model to traditional corporations who are obligated to make ‘profit’ their only mission.”

Perhaps the best-known example of how Connecticut Democrats approach job growth was illustrated in the now famous video clip – shown above – of the 2010 U.S. Senate debate between former state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal – who was ultimately elected – and business magnate Linda McMahon.

Other states having the best hiring climates in the Gallup survey after North Dakota are Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Utah, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Delaware, Washington, and Oregon.

Working from the bottom up from Connecticut’s last place, Alaska, New Mexico, West Virginia, Maine, New Jersey, Mississippi, Kentucky, Vermont, Rhode Island, Alabama, and New York are the next lowest-ranking states for job climate.