Connecticut has high levels of productivity despite having few natural resources. This is because its people are well educated and creative. The creative genius of people like Eli Whitney, Samuel Colt, and Charles Goodyear in Connecticut has led to a large number of important inventions and patents.
In the 1940s and 1950s, traditional industries in Connecticut and other parts of the Northeast moved to the Sunbelt. The 1970s and 1980s, on the other hand, were times of economic growth. Since then, Connecticut has had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and has been one of the top states in terms of personal income per person. Since labor unions have been strong, some of the high wages and good working conditions found in most Connecticut factories may be at least partly due to them. A strong force in the state is also business. There are a lot of active local chambers of commerce, and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association is smart and powerful.
Agriculture and fishing
Agriculture became less important over the course of the 20th century, and it is now a small part of the economy. In 1978, a farmland preservation program was put in place because the number of farms was falling quickly. Most farm income comes from animals and their products. Farms in Connecticut make a lot of milk, eggs, chicken, and vegetables for people in the state. They also grow shade-grown tobacco, which is mostly used to wrap cigars.
Commercial fishing has never been very important to the state, except for oyster fishing and whaling, which was important in the past. The oyster industry is slowly getting back on its feet after being hurt by natural disasters like disease outbreaks and by pollution of coastal waters by people.
Resources and power
Mining was important in the past, but the last iron and copper mines shut down a long time ago. The main reason why the state ranks so high in value added by manufacturing is that it imports almost all of the raw materials it needs. The only things that are still made in the state are sand, gravel, stone, feldspar, clay, and mica. Mineralogists from Yale University in New Haven were the first people to find a lot of minerals in Connecticut. Up until the end of the 20th century, interesting things were still being found in quarries. However, many of them were closed to collectors because suburban real estate developments were being built there.
More than half of the state's electricity is made at nuclear power plants, and most of the rest is made at thermal power plants. The state has offered incentives to develop renewable resources, especially methane from biomass sources. The electricity made with this fuel is a small but important part of the state's total. On the other hand, hydroelectricity is only a small part of the power from renewable sources.
Manufacturing
Connecticut's economy has been based on manufacturing for a long time, but its relative importance has decreased, especially as federal defense contracts have decreased. Pins, clocks, silverware, sewing machines, guns (especially Winchester rifles and Colt pistols), and many brass products have been made in Connecticut for a long time. Groton began making submarines in 1924. The Nautilus, the first submarine powered by nuclear energy, was made there. Since the 1970s, high-tech companies have become more important.
Services, labour, and taxation
Since the end of the 20th century, the health care and tourism industries in Connecticut have grown very quickly. Real estate, insurance, and financial services have also grown a lot. As rules about how banks work between states have changed, many local banks have followed the national trend and merged into national banks. People often say that Connecticut is the insurance center of the country and that Hartford is "Insurance City." Marine insurance was the first thing that Connecticut companies cared about, but over time, they started to offer more types of casualty insurance as well. Some of the biggest insurance companies in the country are based in Connecticut, and many of the biggest companies in the country, especially tech companies, have their headquarters there.
Local governments get almost all of their money from property taxes, with some help from the state and federal governments. After a long and heated debate in the legislature, Connecticut changed its income tax in 1991 so that it was mostly a flat rate. After that, the state sales tax rate and corporate taxes were both cut.
Transportation and telecommunications
The railroad system in Connecticut is a key link in the rail corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C. The first railroads were built so that farmers in the interior could get their goods to the ports in Connecticut. Each of the larger river valleys—the Housatonic, the Naugatuck, the Connecticut, the Willimantic, and the Quinebaug—once had its own railroad. In 1852, the line along the coast was done. Up until 1930, Connecticut's economy was growing, which was good for the railroads. However, when highways started competing for people and goods, rail traffic dropped by a lot. Most of the river lines no longer carry passengers. Some lines still carry freight, but others have stopped. Amtrak runs trains for people through Connecticut, which connects New York City and Boston. The Metro-North New Haven line of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is used a lot by people who live in southern Connecticut and work in New York City.
Interstate highways go all over the state, but most of them are along the coast and in the Connecticut River valley, where there are a lot of people. Connecticut was the first state to have a highway with limited access. From the border with New York to near Milford, where the first part of the Merritt Parkway opened in 1938, it has been praised for its beautiful scenery and well-thought-out design. When the Mianus River Bridge fell in June 1983, a number of people died. As a result, the governor and legislature came up with the country's first comprehensive program to improve roads and bridges. Since then, they have gotten a lot better.
The main airport is Bradley International Airport, mapquest directions Hartford. However, there are a number of smaller airports all over the state that serve local areas. One of the biggest ports in New England is in New Haven. Bridgeport and New London are also important ports.
No comments yet