Monthly Jobs Briefs
Public Assets Institute’s Monthly Jobs Briefs will be released on the same day that the Vermont Department of Labor issues its monthly employment and unemployment statistics. Our reports will provide additional information and context for the official state statistics and are meant to complement the Department of Labor information.
The Public Assets reports will draw from data available from the U.S. Census, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic Policy Institute, Center on Budget and Policies Priorities, National Employment Law Project and the Vermont Department of Labor.
2012 Publication schedule:
Jan 24, 2012
Mar 13, 2012
Mar 30, 2012
Apr 20, 2012
May 18, 2012
Jun 15, 2012
Jul 20, 2012
Aug 17, 2012
Sep 21, 2012
Oct 19, 2012
Nov 20, 2012
Dec 21, 2012
Progress is Sputtering for Vermont’s Jobless
Vermont’s labor force continued to shrink in April. While there were fewer people officially unemployed—which helped to push down the unemployment rate—the number of Vermonters…
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While Joblessness Persists, Help for the Unemployed Wanes
The number of Vermonters in the labor force—employed and unemployed—decreased last month after rising steadily since last July, according to seasonally adjusted data released today…
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Joblessness Dips Below 5 Percent, But Many Still Want Work
Vermont’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate inched down again in February—to below 5 percent. That makes two full years with no increase in the rate and…
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Jobs: Better, But a Bit Less Better Than Reported
Vermont didn’t experience the same job growth in January that was seen at the national level. But the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate did tick…
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For Vermonters, It’s Still Cold Outside
In spite of a slight rise in manufacturing jobs last year, Vermont lost more than 28 percent of the jobs in this sector in the…
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Vermont Employment Climbs Another Rung
Unemployment dropped in Vermont and 42 other states in November. Vermont’s seasonally adjusted rate went from 5.6 percent in October to 5.3 percent last month,…
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Vermont Takes A Small Optimistic Turn in Employment
Vermont’s private employers are again creating more jobs than they’re eliminating. That’s according to the latest figures from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, which…
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Vermont Slogs Through the Slowest Recovery
in 40 Years
Almost four years after the start of the last recession, the number of non-farm jobs is still 6,600 below Vermont’s 2007 peak. That makes…
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in 40 Years
Vermont Jobs: More is Still Not Enough
Vermont added 1,400 seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs in August, according to data released by the Vermont Department of Labor today. At the same time the…
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If It’s a Trend, It Doesn’t Look Good for Vermont
Vermont’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose in July—the third month in a row. Jobs and employment data come from surveys, so changes in a single…
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Small Gains Struggle Against a Stubborn Jobs Trend
Vermont gained jobs again in June, making up for much of the loss in May. Vermont added 2,800 non-farm jobs and was one of only…
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Tougher Job Market for Vermont’s Unemployed
Vermont’s big winter job gains were offset by spring losses, according to figures released today. Vermont lost 3,500 seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs in May—on top…
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No New Life in Springtime Employment
Vermont experienced a sharp drop of 2,200 non-farm jobs in April, according to preliminary figures released Friday by the Vermont Department of Labor. Most of…
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The Job Recovery is More Than Halfway There
Vermont’s private-sector employers have added nearly 10,000 jobs since the depths of the recession, with almost two-thirds of that growth in just the last four…
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Vermont’s Employment Picks Up as the Jobs Landscape Shifts
Vermont’s annual unemployment rate was the second lowest in New England in 2010. New Hampshire’s was one-tenth of a percentage point lower, but given the…
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Vermont Leads the Nation as Jobs Return
Vermont’s job growth in January was the best in the nation, according to numbers released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Seasonally…
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An Uptick in Unemployment Could Be a Good Sign
Vermont’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly—to 5.8 percent in December from 5.7 percent in November. In reality, joblessness was unchanged; the U.S. Bureau of Labor…
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Improvements in the Labor Market are Slow but Steady
Vermont’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November remained at 5.7 percent, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national…
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Glimpses of Good News Through the Gloom
New figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show Vermont employers added 1,800 non-farm jobs last month—the first increase this year that the…
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Jobs Losses Don’t Tell the Full Story
The latest Department of Labor figures confirm that Vermont is still struggling to restore the jobs lost in this recession. Non-farm jobs in September…
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The Recession is Officially Over. Tell That to the Jobless
The National Bureau of Economic Research announced this week that the recession officially ended in June 2009. Still, jobs losses in Vermont and other states…
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As Job-Seekers Lose Steam, So Does the Recovery
For the fourth straight month, Vermonters have dropped out of the labor force. According to figures released today, the number of people working or looking…
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New Hope for Unemployed Vermonters
Congress is poised to give a temporary reprieve to thousands of Vermonters who have exhausted their state unemployment benefits and depend on emergency benefits from the federal government.
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A Bit of A Breather in the Labor Market and at Home
Unemployed Vermonters may be finding less competition for available jobs this spring.
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On the Trail to Recovery—With More Hills to Climb
There were mixed signals again in Vermont’s employment and jobs figures released today. The unemployment rate ticked down slightly, and more people reported they were employed. But according to the survey of Vermont employers, almost 2,000 jobs were eliminated last month.
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Vermont’s Workers May Not Be Sharing the Nation’s Recent Good Fortune
Vermont may not have been part of the big surge in new jobs that President Obama touted earlier this month. He announced that employers added more than 160,000 jobs in March. Meanwhile, preliminary figures show Vermont lost 1,900 non-farm jobs last month. That was one of the biggest percentage declines in the country and Vermont’s fourth-biggest monthly loss since the start of the recession. But the decline also may be a statistical anomaly.
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Unemployment is Static—But Things Get Worse for Workers
Unemployment was essentially unchanged in Vermont and most other states in February. According to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only seven states and Washington, D.C., had monthly changes in their unemployment rates that were statistically significant. Vermont’s wasn’t one of them. Its February was 6.6 percent; January’s was 6.7 percent—among the lowest in the country.
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New Numbers, Same Story: Jobs and Unemployment Remain Steady
State and federal officials released revised labor statistics today showing that Vermont’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate and the number of seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs were largely unchanged in January.
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Hard Times Get Harder; Government Gives Relief
After six months of gradual decline, the number of unemployed Vermont workers shot up by 1,600 in December. That was a statistically significant jump from November and the largest monthly increase since last January.
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Signs Are Good…if They Hold
Vermont’s preliminary November employment statistics, released Friday, were all moving in the right direction: increased labor force, increased employment, and a drop in unemployment.A good month—but it’ll be several months before we know whether we’re on the road to economic recovery.
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No Bad News Is Good
That there was no bad news was good news on the Vermont unemployment front in October. The official unemployment rate dropped slightly—to 6.5 percent from 6.7 percent—but the change is not statistically significant. Still, the fact that the unemployment rate did not go up meant Vermont fared better than much of the rest of the country.
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Vermont’s Labor Force Is Shrinking
The Vermont labor force continued to shrink in September as 1,900 more unemployed Vermonters stopped looking for work. In May, the labor force reached a peak of 361,000, but has been falling since then. Last month it stood at 356,900.
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Vermont’s Unemployment Rate Still High, But Lowest in Northeast
Vermont’s unemployment rate remained at 6.8 percent in August, the seventh month at this level or higher and the longest stretch since the early 1980’s. As bad as it is for Vermonters, workers elsewhere in the Northeast have it worse.
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Stimulus Helps Public Job Growth; Private Sector Still Lags
The public sector added 1,700* jobs in July, many of them youth services jobs paid for with federal stimulus funds. Meanwhile, the private sector reported more job losses last month.
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Vermont Unemployment: Five Months Over 7 Percent
June marked the fifth straight month that Vermont’s unemployment rate has been above 7 percent, the longest stretch in more than a quarter century.
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