{"id":16729,"date":"2026-02-04T09:41:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T14:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/?p=16729"},"modified":"2026-02-04T09:41:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T14:41:38","slug":"economic-pulse-feb-26office-of-state-comptroller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/economic-pulse-feb-26office-of-state-comptroller\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Pulse Feb 26(Office of State Comptroller)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Welcome to February, Pulse readers!<\/p>\n

Connecticut continues to see a surplus as we head into the 2026 legislative session. We’ll be keeping an eye on legislation that affects the bottom dollar in budgets, from the state to your business to your pockets.<\/p>\n

This month, the\u00a0Economic Update<\/a>\u00a0takes a closer look at different policies, trends and events that will have the biggest impact on the economy this year.\u00a0It also covers three months of Connecticut jobs data, all released in January, that shows which industries are growing and which ones are not.<\/p>\n

Also, if you’re free next Monday, I’d like to invite you to the Comptroller’s Healthcare Cabinet’s annual report unveiling at the Capitol. RSVP at\u00a0bit.ly\/compcab.<\/a><\/p>\n

Thanks for giving this a read, and be sure to let me know if there’s any topics you’d like to see covered more in-depth.<\/p>\n

Stay sharp, stay informed, and keep your finger on the pulse,<\/p>\n

Comptroller Sean Scanlon<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Quick Beat<\/h1>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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General Fund Surplus:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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$85.9 million<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n

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Special Transportation Fund Surplus:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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$46.5 million<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Connecticut\u2019s economy grew 5.6% (SAAR) in Q3 2025, adjusting for inflation, the 4th fastest among states.\u00a0Strong growth in durable goods manufacturing and key white-collar industries, as well as improvement in the retail sector, drove faster growth for the quarter.<\/p>\n

Lower global oil prices are providing some relief this winter, but frigid temperatures are driving utility bills higher.\u00a0Regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.85 per gallon in Connecticut the week of 1\/23\/26, down from $3.09 the same week in 2025.<\/p>\n

2025 was another sluggish year for home sales.\u00a0Falling mortgage rates could support more inventory and sales in 2026. Multifamily housing is likely to dominate new home construction based on building permit activity.<\/p>\n

Employers added just 900 jobs in Q4,\u00a0and payrolls shrank by 2,200 positions year-over-year through December. There were 74,000 open positions as of November.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n

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KEY DATES THIS MONTH<\/p>\n

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2\/4 \u2013 Governor releases proposed state budget revisions for next year<\/p>\n

2\/4 \u2013 Start of CT legislative session<\/p>\n

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2\/6 \u2013 January U.S. jobs report<\/p>\n

2\/11 \u2013 January CPI inflation report<\/p>\n

2\/20 \u2013 U.S. GDP Q4 2025 first estimate<\/p>\n

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TBD \u2013 January CT jobs report<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Will the AI boom continue to push stocks higher in 2026 or will the bubble burst?\u00a0That\u2019s a key question for Connecticut. A major drop in U.S. equity values could reverberate throughout the economy if households pull back on spending when their investments decline. Alternatively, it could tamp down business investment.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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The major tax and spending law passed by Congress last summer, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (\u201cOBBBA\u201d), is expected to stimulate economic activity in 2026, while also reducing safety net benefits for low-income residents and hurting specific industries, like solar energy, electric vehicles, and higher education.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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What else is impacted?<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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While everyday consumers are feeling the stresses of inflation, well-off households are more likely to be benefitting from the strong stock market, with the \u201cwealth effect\u201d making them more willing to spend.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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What’s driving it?<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n\n
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Connecticut\u2019s unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in December, up from 3.8% in September and 4.0% in November.\u00a0The labor market has been gradually cooling but further deterioration would mean trouble.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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The Office of the State Comptroller |\u00a0165 Capitol Ave\u00a0|\u00a0Hartford, CT 06106 US<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to February, Pulse readers! Connecticut continues to see a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16731,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16729\/revisions\/16731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eastwindsorchamber.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}