More Vermonters are working than ever before
Vermont had 3,900 fewer jobs in 2023 than before the pandemic in 2019. But according to newly released data from the Vermont Department of Labor, the losses have not been evenly distributed. In fact, five Vermont counties showed net gains from 2019 to 2023, while the other nine saw net losses. Between 2022 and 2023, all Vermont counties saw job growth, ranging from 23 jobs in Essex County to 1,791 in Chittenden County. The state gained 5,500 jobs that year.
The data also show that Essex County had the lowest average wage in 2023, at $47,479, and Chittenden County the highest, $70,269. The Vermont Department of Labor defines the average annual wage as total annual wages divided by average monthly jobs.
THIS MONTH
In April 2024 the number of people working in Vermont hit the highest level on record: 348,975, after four straight years of growth beginning in May 2020. Unlike the number of jobs, which includes only payroll jobs covered by unemployment insurance, this number includes the self-employed and farmworkers not covered by unemployment insurance. Meanwhile, Vermont maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, at 2.1 percent, compared with the national rate of 3.9 percent. 
