Despite these similarities, Hartford's labor market looks less robust that the other three. Hartford also has by far the smallest labor force growth in the first three quarters of 2000. The federal government has provided the most new jobs in the New Haven labor market in the last year. The city saw job declines in the insurance, finance, and retail sectors. As with labor market conditions, school performance measures in the four cities show some improvement in the last five years, though progress is slow and the improvements start from a very low base.
New Haven stands out in having somewhat lower student attendance that the other districts.
Mastery test scores are roughly comparable in all four, especially for 1999. New Haven has the second largest workforce of the cities compared. Table 1 below lists 1996 to 2000 employment data for the cities you requested. The New Haven labor market area includes Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Clinton, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Killingworth, Madison, Meriden, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven, and Woodbridge. The reports identify hourly, annual, mid-range, and entry level wages for hundreds of occupations.