- August 31, 2026
- Patrick R. O'Brien
The 2026 edition of The State of Working Connecticut examines three new problems facing the state’s workers and households. Over the past year, Connecticut’s unemployment rate rose faster than in any other state, to a level tied for the highest in the nation, and much of that unemployment has become long-term. Prices rose sharply again during the first half of 2026, especially in the Northeast, adding to the permanently higher price level from the last round of inflation. And federal cuts to food assistance and health care, estimated at nearly $1 billion in fiscal year 2027, are going into effect just as more households need those benefits. These new problems compound the state’s long-term problems, as Connecticut’s economy, labor force, and wages have grown far more slowly than in the U.S. as a whole for decades, limiting the growth of earnings and overall income and weakening the state’s fiscal capacity to provide support. In response, the report presents policy options that would protect workers from the new problems, make wages fairer, and make major household expenses such as housing and child care more affordable.