Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims rose last week to an unusually high summer level. Claims tend to spike in June and fall back during the summer months. However, the number of Manufacturing claims doubled last week. For the week of July 2, 2016, there were 739 claims, up 110 from the previous week's total and 274 more than they were a year ago. By industry, claims increased for Manufacturing and Trade; Service, as is typical, carried the most claims.
Altogether 4,825 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 126 from a week ago, and 478 more than a year ago.
The Department processed 0 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08).
Vermont's unemployment rate fell one-tenth to 3.1 percent in May, as the labor force and total employment increased, along with a decrease in the number of unemployed. However, the overall jobs situation was not as strong as it was in April. SEE STORY.
Meanwhile, the US economy added 287,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department reported Friday, up from 11,000 in May.
Tony Bedikian, Managing Director of Global Markets at Citizens Bank, with offices in Vermont, said: “The 287,000 jobs added in June in the US is blockbuster news that should be viewed positively by the market. I think market participants and the Fed were eyeing this number very closely to see if last month’s disappointing jobs number was an aberration or a trend -- and today’s report puts that concern to rest. The Brexit vote and the previous payroll number gave market participants some pause, but today’s report will put some confidence back in their view of the US economy.”
The Vermont June jobs report will not be available until July 22.
The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc
NOTE: Employment (nonfarm payroll) - A count of all persons who worked full- or part-time or received pay from a nonagricultural employer for any part of the pay period which included the 12th of the month. Because this count comes from a survey of employers, persons who work for two different companies would be counted twice. Therefore, nonfarm payroll employment is really a count of the number of jobs, rather than the number of persons employed. Persons may receive pay from a job if they are temporarily absent due to illness, bad weather, vacation, or labor-management dispute. This count is based on where the jobs are located, regardless of where the workers reside, and is therefore sometimes referred to as employment "by place of work." Nonfarm payroll employment data are collected and compiled based on the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, conducted by the Vermont Department of Labor. This count was formerly referred to as nonagricultural wage and salary employment.
