In mid-September, MannKind Corp. opened a new manufacturing floor in Danbury, where it plans to produce a newfangled insulin treatment for diabetes.

A week later, Siemens AG took a state incentive package to maintain a Brookfield manufacturing facility for its Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics division, the world's largest maker of clinical diagnostic kits to spot cardiovascular disease, diabetes and allergies.

The two moves demonstrate a basic tenet in economic development - the more diverse a region's industry base, the better it is able to absorb shocks like massive manufacturing losses in Connecticut the past two decades, or job losses in the financial sector the past two weeks.

Between July and August, more than 12,000 Connecticut residents filed for unemployment benefits, according to initial estimates by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Connecticut's unemployment rate hit 6.5 percent in August, up from 5.8 percent in July and 4.6 percent in August 2007 - and at its highest level since June 1993.

Lower Fairfield County had an unemployment rate of 6 percent in August, while the Danbury area jobless rate was 5.2 percent. Waterbury had the worst unemployment rate in the state at 8.4 percent, even as wire-maker Accel International announced it would relocate to Meriden at a cost of 40 more jobs.

During the recession of the early 1990s, also precipitated by a collapse in the real estate markets, unemployment peaked at 7.5 percent in Connecticut. During the energy crisis of the 1970s, unemployment hit double digits in Connecticut.

According to estimates by the Connecticut Department of Labor, based on employer feedback, the Fairfield County region shed 4,500 jobs in August, after a drop of nearly 5,000 in July.

The state does not adjust county-level data for seasonal considerations such as summer college jobs; compared to a year ago, Fairfield County employers still had 3,000 additional jobs on the books, but local observers have a dour outlook for the fall.

The current crisis could hit administrative personnel at financial companies the hardest. They face a tougher job market than rainmakers with track records in generating revenue or returns, or technical personnel with hard-to-find skills.

"Anyone who is a producer is going to wind up finding another job," said David Lewis, chief executive officer of Operationslnc, a human-resources consulting firm in Stamford.

The pharmaceutical industry is not immune to the current crisis, of course - last week alone, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Wyeth all warned of job cuts at various company sites.

MannKind and Siemens are bucking that trend, however, with the latter company landing an unspecified package of state incentives to add 75 jobs in Brookfield over the next two years. Siemens already employs 350 people there, and Fairfield County is also the headquarters for Siemens IT Solutions and Services Inc., an information-technology strategy unit that has its U.S. base in Norwalk.

"As (Connecticut's) economy evolves the medical-device industry gains more and more importance every day," said Gov. M. Jodi Rell in announcing the deal. "This project makes sense as our state's traditional manufacturing environment changes."

Copyright Westfair Communications Oct 6, 2008

(c) 2008 Fairfield County Business Journal. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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