Vermont’s labor market is recovering, but not recovered
After record job losses in 2020 due to the pandemic, Vermont enjoyed record gains in 2021. The state added 13,500 jobs from December 2020 through December 2021, the most of any year since data became available in 1990.
Hotels, restaurants, and reopening art venues led the 2021 growth, adding 60 percent, or 8,000, of the jobs. But despite the gains, Vermont ended 2021 with 18,000 fewer jobs than it had at the start of 2020. In two weeks, more data will show how the job market is faring as the pandemic enters its third year, cases decline, and the economy continues to adjust.
THIS MONTH
January 2022 added 941 workers to the employment numbers. Newly revised data show that Vermont ended 2021 with 318,426 people working, over 8,000 more than previously thought. Another revision: The state lost more workers at the start of the pandemic than it had previously tallied. Vermont ended 2021 with nearly 29,000 fewer people employed than before the pandemic.
