Public Assets Institute > Policy Areas > Family Economic Security > Jobs slid on the slopes last month, but climbed in 2015

Jobs slid on the slopes last month, but climbed in 2015

F1-MJB078Warm weather and a lack of snow took a toll on Vermont’s tourist industry in December. The accommodation and food services sector lost 2,200 jobs from the previous month. With gains elsewhere, Vermont netted a loss of 2,100 jobs. Accommodation and food services jobs dropped significantly in December 2014 too, also thanks to rain and warm temperatures. Typically this sector sees a change of only a few hundred jobs from November to December.T1-MJB078

 

 

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Net job gains
Vermont gained 2,600 jobs in 2015, despite the big loss in accommodation and food services in December. Private sector employers added 1,700 jobs last year. In 2014, Vermont employers finally replaced all of the jobs lost during the Great Recession, and at the end of 2015 tallied about 2,500 more jobs than at the highest point before the recession.

 

F3-MJB078Labor force contraction
The Vermont labor force—the total number of people working and those actively looking for work—declined in nine of 12 months in 2015. Between December 2014 and December 2015, the labor force shrank by 5,800, to 342,976. Its number is now more than 18,000 below the April 2009 peak. The last time the labor force was this low was April 2002.

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