Connecticut banks producing profits during pandemic, but job growth is slow
By Alexander Soule
FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedInRedditPinterest
Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media
Despite closing 2020 with their third-best profits ever, Connecticut banks entered this year having yet to bring back the jobs they shed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statewide payrolls are at their lowest since the aftermath of the Great Recession.
The jobs scenario reflects two trends in Connecticut and the New York City region — uncertainty over the economic outlook and a discovery that banks in some instances are able to fulfill customer expectations adequately with fewer employees.
Banks have braced for the uncertainty of whether residential and commercial borrowers will be able to keep up with their loan commitments, particularly in niche industries like hospitality or in locales where unemployment levels remained elevated for any extended stretch.