Vermont’s workforce is growing, but not fast enough
Vermonters continued to find work in recent months, and at the start of the year employers filled jobs at a record pace. But Vermont still has more jobs than people to fill them.
According to the most recent reports from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Vermont workplaces had 2.7 jobs openings in October 2023 for every unemployed person—that is, someone without work who is actively seeking it. That ratio was down slightly from the summer months, but an increase over October 2022. Vermont’s ratio of job openings to job-seekers was nearly double the U.S. ratio in October.
THIS MONTH
Vermont’s labor force exceeded 350,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic, and November marked the 13th straight month that the number of employed people increased. The labor force, which includes people working and those actively looking for work, rose to 351,080 in November. That’s still smaller than the workforce was in 2018 and 2019, when it topped 355,000. But November was the first month it has risen above 350,000 since April of 2020. Unemployment also was up. The jobless rate increased to 2.1 percent from 2.0 percent in October. 
