Connecticut adds 4,100 jobs in July as unemployment rate falls to 5.4 percent

Connecticut's unemployment rate has fallen to 5.4 percent, marking its lowest since May 2008.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the state added 4,100 jobs in July. Officials said Thursday the state has grown 30,600 nonfarm jobs during the last year and has now recovered 97 percent of the private sector jobs lost during the recession.

The jobless rate is down from 5.7 percent in June and a percentage point lower than the July 2014 unemployment rate of 6.4 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate in July was 5.3 percent.

The state jobless rate was last at 5.4 percent in May 2008.

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This story has been corrected to show that the 1 percentage point drop is in comparison with state rate, not U.S. rate.