Labor force participation rate, by age group, 2019 and 2024

Vermont’s total labor force has returned to its pre-Covid baseline. Roughly the same share of Vermonters, across age groups, are participating in the workforce as in 2019. More Vermonters are unemployed than in 2019, but the joblessness rate remained low, at under 3 percent in September 2025. More recent state jobs data were delayed because of the federal government shutdown. Some workers are experiencing more job uncertainty this year: The state’s roughly 6,600 federal workers—1.9 percent of the total workforce—remain at risk of layoff.