Jobs returning to Connecticut as unemployment rate falls to lowest level in more than 5 years

The Connecticut Department of Labor says employers added jobs for the fifth straight month in June, lowering the state unemployment rate to 6.7 percent.

The state reported Thursday that employers added 1,700 jobs in June for a total of 5,300 new jobs since June 2013.

In addition, state labor economists revised job gains upward in May, to 6,000 from 5,800 initially reported.

The unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point from May. The 6.7 percent was the lowest since December 2008, a year into the recession.

The national unemployment rate in June was 6.1 percent.

Andy Condon, the agency's research director, credited broad industry job growth and an expanding labor force. He says summer seasonal hiring seems to have begun at expected rates.