Same Same: Unemployment Rate Down. Employment Too
Vermont’s employment picture was essentially unchanged from March to April. The unemployment rate, labor force, and non-farm jobs all ticked down, but only slightly. Comparing this April to the same month in previous years, the recent trend shows a steady decline in the number of Vermonters who report having jobs, even while the unemployment rate was dropping. Last month’s employment was the lowest 
for April since 2009, in the depths of the recession.
A brief and solitary trip
To catch up on highway maintenance, Vermonters will pay about 6 cents more for a gallon of gas in the coming year. Fortunately for most commuters, the drive is short. According to 2009-11 Census data, travel time to work was less than half an hour—averaging 22 minutes—for 72 percent of Vermonters. People could lower their fuel costs by carpooling more. The Census data show three-quarters of workers drove to their jobs alone.
The high price of child care
It’s not just low-income parents who struggle to pay for good child care. According to the 2012 Vermont Child Care Market Survey, the median annual rate charged by licensed providers for a preschool child was just over $9,000. That’s about a third of the median annual income for Vermonters who file their taxes as “head of household”; most of these are single parents. Even for two-parent families, whose median income was almost $69,000 in 2011, the median child care cost would be about 13 percent of income.
