The Connecticut Department of Labor says the state has recovered from the pandemic.

Officials say the state has recovered the 290,000 jobs lost during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.

Finance jobs are down 189% since the pandemic, according to state officials.

"The recovery was a little slower than scheduled, I think. We've had 100,000 job openings for multiple years now. So, the demand was there, we just didn't have the people to fill those jobs," said CBIA president Chris DiPentima.

The unemployment rate is also at its best since the pandemic.

"Some of it is that perception that manufacturing is what it was in the '20s and '30s - dark, dingy, dirty, and dangerous - and that's not the case at all. It's basically a computer science industry - a lot of robots, automation, state of the art," said DiPentima.

Manufacturing is only at about three-quarters of where it was.

Among the state's regions lower Fairfield County has the second-highest unemployment rate. 

"The state has done a good job with launching a lot of workforce development programs for those entry-level folks, those initial job openings, it's just getting more people into that," said DiPentima.

According to reports, five of the state’s main sectors have added jobs - including health care, child care, and education. 

But DiPentima says one sector is still in need.

“They're an industry themselves that needs to hire, in order to support other people to be able to go back to work - what we call the workforce behind the workforce."

He says there's work ahead - but Connecticut's business community is finally leaving the pandemic behind.

DiPentima says it's all about growing the economy here in Connecticut and realizing the state’s economic potential.