Stratford Unemployment Rate One Point Higher Than State Average

More than 10 percent of Stratford residents are unemployed, according to July statistics released by the Connecticut Department of Labor.

Of the town's 26,781-strong labor force, 2,726 are currently unemployed, which equates to a 10.2 percent unemployment rate. The statewide average is 9.2, and the national rate is 9.1.

Mayor John A. Harkins attributed the higher-than-average unemployment rate to the type of workforce in Stratford.

"Stratford is a bedroom community with a number of residents who commute out of town for their jobs," Harkins wrote in an email. "Traditionally, this has tended to keep Stratford's unemployment number on the higher side."

However, steps have been taken to attract more jobs in-house, Harkins wrote.

"In the last year, Federal Express has added 100 jobs, and Yale-New Haven Health has brought 200 jobs to town," he wrote. "Additionally, Dog Star Studios (125 jobs) is inching closer to a deal at the former Exxon Mobil site, and a 15,000 square-foot facility targeting medical office jobs has been built on Hawley Lane."

Still, Stratford is struggling to employ its own residents, as is neighboring Bridgeport, which was found to have the second highest July unemployment rate of 14.2. Hartford had the highest rate at 16.9.

Milford had an unemployment rate of 8.0, Fairfield came in at 7.9, and Stamford, which had the largest recorded labor force in the state at 69,057 people, had a rate of 7.5.

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