Vermont’s unemployment rate fell to 2.1 percent in July.

By Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine According to the Vermont Department of Labor and based on household data, Vermont’s current adjusted unemployment rate fell one-tenth to 2.1 percent in July 2021. All three main indicators showed positive results, the labor force and the number of employed people increased and the number of people looking for work decreased. Additionally, the civilian labor force participation rate rose to 61.7 percent in July, up one-tenth from June. The unemployment rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but the labor force is still lagging behind and nearly 20,000 jobs in Vermont are still unfilled.

The comparable U.S. unemployment rate in July was 3.5 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the revised June estimate. Vermont has the fifth lowest unemployment rate in the nation. New Hampshire is tied for the second lowest (2.0 percent), while Minnesota is the lowest at 1.8 percent. Alaska and New Mexico are the highest at 4.5 percent (see chart below).

Vermont’s unemployment rate increased by 16.5 percent in April 2020 with 57,905 unemployed. U.S. rates rose 14.7 percent in April. Before the pandemic, Vermont had the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said, “Vermont’s labor force has grown every month this year. That’s welcome news for businesses looking to hire, but despite an increase in the workforce of nearly 7,000, Vermont’s workforce remains below 20,000. Pre-Pandemic Levels: Hiring Difficulty for Vermont Businesses Monthly Job Vacancy Data features over 20,000 job openings for 15 consecutive months. Prior to this launch, the historical data never exceeded this threshold, making it an excellent resource for job seekers or career changers. The department’s resources for both job seekers and employers. It has, and we want the opportunity to help, so give us a call or contact us online.

Seasonally adjusted Vermont data for July showed that Vermont’s civilian labor force increased by 860 from last month’s revised estimate (see Table 1). The number of employed people increased by 1,129 and the number of unemployed decreased by 269. The change made to the number of employees was significant in the seasonally adjusted series of statistics.

The July unemployment rate for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 1.7 percent in White River Junction and 3.3 percent in Burlington-South Burlington in Derby (note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted – see Table 2). By comparison, July’s unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 2.1 percent, down four-tenths of a percentage point from the revised June level and down one-two-tenths of a percentage point from a year earlier.

Weekly jobless claims continue to be at low levels, especially near pre-pandemic summer levels. New claims for August 13 were up 25 from last week and down 89 from last year. New and continuing claims were 2,316, down 8 from last week and down 2,928 from last year (Total claims for all programs, including the now-discontinued federal extended benefits like PUA, down 12,643 from last year).

Meanwhile, federal jobless claims totaled 250,000 last week, down 2,000 from the previous week and below economists’ estimates of 260,000. A week later, outstanding claims had increased by 7,000 to 1.437 million.

Up-to-date (Table 3)

The seasonally adjusted data for July showed an increase of 1,700 jobs from the revised June data. There was an increase of 1,000 jobs between the preliminary and revised June estimates, which included additional data. Seasonally adjusted monthly changes in July varied by industry. Significant increases include: local government (+2,100 jobs or +7.2%), federal government (+300 jobs or +4.5%) and other services (+400 jobs or +4.0%). Industries with significant declines include: arts, entertainment and recreation (-200 jobs or -4.3%), private education services (-500 jobs or -3.9%) and finance and insurance (-200 jobs or -2.2%).

Not seasonally adjusted (Table 4)

Preliminary ‘seasonally adjusted’ jobs estimates for July showed an increase of 500 jobs compared to revised June numbers. Like the ‘seasonally adjusted’ data, this month-over-month change comes from revised June numbers, which showed an increase of 2,100 jobs from earlier estimates. In this series of databases, it is possible to see the broad economic picture by focusing on the changes that occur during the year. As detailed in July’s preliminary ‘seasonally unadjusted’ data, total private industry employment increased by 4,000 jobs (+1.6%) and government (including public education) employment increased by 3,200 jobs (+6.7%). Last year.

Note: An error in the current employment statistics program caused incorrect data to be published on July 22, 2022. The error affected the private education services, education and health services, total personal, and total nonfarm employment estimates for May and June 2022. .Information publications and information have been updated to reflect corrected information on August 12, 2022.

It is expected that the August unemployment and jobs report will be announced Friday, September 16 at 10:00 p.m. See the latest report on VTlmi.info/press.pdf.

Date Last Updated: August 19, 2022

8.19.2022. Montpelier www.labor.vermont.gov and www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm