With the new year may come a career change for some. News 12's Kristie Reeter takes a look into the job market to see where hiring has been, where it has slowed and how inflation is having an impact.

In a News 12 poll, the majority of people in Connecticut said an opportunity to work remotely is very important when looking for a job.

The Federal Reserve chair warned that high inflation could make it harder to restore the job market. What does that mean and what are we seeing in Connecticut?

“Well, what he is saying is that the way to combat inflation is by raising interest rates,” says Caleb Silver, with Investopedia. “That makes it more expensive to borrow and hire employees. That could cool the job market, but also wages have been rising too, getting tougher for employers. But in Connecticut, we've seen the unemployment rate move down nicely. It is down at 6%— still higher than the 3.9% across the country. But the major counties that we look at, from Hartford to New Haven and down, are 5% or lower, with Litchfield coming in at 4.1%."

If the unemployment rate is going down, why are we hearing that hiring has slowed?

“That is less people filing for unemployment claims, that doesn't necessarily mean more people are getting hired,” Silver says. “They may not be getting unemployment anymore, but they are not getting hired in traditional companies or in jobs that we are kind of used to. Maybe they are independent contractors, maybe they are waiting it out. So, there's the big difference between the unemployment rate and the job gains."