Good news: More jobs. Bad news: Lower wages
Vermont employers added almost 20,000 jobs after the official end of the recession in June 2009. But most of that gain merely made up for lost ground. Before the recession, non-farm payroll jobs in Vermont peaked at 309,600 in June 2007. Last month, with employers adding 1,000 jobs, the total reached a new high of 314,700.
Disparities by age
Vermont’s jobless rate has remained among the lowest in the country for the last few years. But younger workers are not sharing that good fortune. According to U.S. Census data, unemployment among men ages 20 to 24 was just under 8 percent in 2014, and about 10 percent for women in that age group. The jobless rate for 45-to-64-year-old women was about half the state average.
Lower low wages
After accounting for inflation, many Vermont workers earned lower wages in 2014 than they did five years earlier. People at the top of the pay scale saw their real wages grow the most. Those at the bottom lost the most.
