Connecticut added more than 55,400 jobs in 2021, roughly 4,400 more than originally projected, the state Department of Labor reported Friday in its year-end assessment.

That pushed the state’s unemployment rate to 5.1% to close the calendar year, though it bumped back up to 5.3% in January as the omicron variant of COVID-19 struck Connecticut hard in mid-winter.

“We’ve seen significant economic recovery over the past year,” said Labor Commissioner Dante Bartolomeo. “Businesses hit hard by the pandemic are coming back, hiring is up, and the unemployment rate is down.”

Connecticut now has recovered more than 225,400 of the 289,400 jobs lost during the first two months of the pandemic, March and April of 2020. That’s about 78%. Read More

Healthgrades, the leading resource that connects consumers, physicians, and health systems, published the Leading Hospitals in Early COVID Care list to acknowledge 24 U.S. hospitals that provided best-in-class COVID-19 care to their patients and community during the first wave of the pandemic. These stand-out hospitals provided exceptional care while treating the highest volumes of coronavirus patients.* The list includes Yale New Haven Hospital.

In the midst of uncertainty, these hospitals acted quickly to deploy strategies to support staff and provided top-notch care for their patients and community. Read More

velo Airlines is adding three new popular leisure and business destinations from Southern Connecticut as it surpasses flying 100,000 Customers at the state's most convenient airport - Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN). Beginning in late May, Avelo will add exclusive nonstop service between HVN and Baltimore-Washington, Chicago and Raleigh-Durham.

Avelo is commemorating this milestone by offering low introductory one-way fares between HVN and the three new routes at AveloAir.com:

With these three new routes, Avelo will now serve more nonstop destinations from Connecticut than any other airline – expanding Avelo's East Coast network from HVN to 13 nonstop destinations. Read More

Quinnipiac University leaders say they want their business school building to feature plenty of space and the latest technology.

Their hope? Quinnipiac will be the first choice for students who want to be the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs.

In early February, the Hamden-based university announced its plans for a $244 million construction project to include three new buildings at its Mount Carmel Campus.

One of those new facilities will house Quinnipiac’s School of Business, which is currently on the campus’ north side. Read More