The Vermont Department of Labor announced today the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August 2010 was unchanged from the previous month’s report holding steady at 6.0 percent. Compared to a year ago, the August unemployment rate is lower by 0.9 percent.
‘The momentum behind the national recovery seems to be waning. While we are encouraged by the local economic indicators available to us ‘ such as early taxable receipts data and a stable, low unemployment rate relative to the current environment ‘ the economic recovery remains uneven and uncertain. We continue to watch the national front for indications, as well as trends here in Vermont,’ said Valerie Rickert, Acting Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor.
Analysis of Job Changes by Industry
The preliminary ‘not seasonally adjusted’ jobs numbers for August show an increase of 450 jobs when compared to the revised July numbers. This reported over the month increase does not include the 750 job increase between the preliminary and the revised July estimates due to the revision process and the inclusion of more sample data. As detailed in the preliminary August numbers, Total Private reports an increase of 600 jobs and Government reports a decline of 150 jobs. A closer look into the industry details shows Food Services and Drinking Places up 650 jobs, Durable Goods Manufacturing with an increase of 450 jobs and Accommodations reporting an increase of 300 jobs. Conversely, the three sub-sectors reporting the largest nominal job declines over the month include: Retail Trade (-350), Health Care and Social Assistance (-300), and Educational Services (-250).
The annual rate of unadjusted job growth was -0.4%, which is unchanged from the revised July estimate.
The seasonally adjusted data for August reports an increase of 100 jobs from the revised July data. As with the ‘not seasonally adjusted’ data, this over the month change is from the revised July numbers which experienced a positive revision from the preliminary July estimates of +900 jobs. The August data shows an increase in Private Industries jobs (+800) and job loss in the sector Total Government (-700). The seasonally adjusted statistics for August report two industries with notable job gains: Durable Goods Manufacturing (+300) and Leisure & Hospitality (+500); and four industries with modest job declines: Retail Trade (-400), Financial Activities (-200), Health Care and Social Assistance (-200), and Local Government (-200).
State of Vermont Overview
Vermont’s August seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained the same at 6.0 percent as the over the month changes to the labor force, number employed and number unemployed were not statistically significant. For comparison purposes, the United States seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 9.6 percent, an increase from July’s estimate of 9.5 percent.
August unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 3.5 percent in Hartford to 7.3 percent in Newport. Local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. For comparison, the August unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 5.5 percent, which was two tenths of a percentage point lower than the revised July data and down seven tenths of a percentage from a year ago.
Source: Vermont DOL. 9.20.2010. The Economic & Labor Market Information section has released the August 2010 employment and jobs numbers for Vermont which is now available on the DOL website. Labor Force and Unemployment: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#laus Non-Farm Jobs: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#ces
Vermont Labor Force Statistics (Seasonally Adjusted)
Changes From
August
2010
July
2010
August
2009
July
2010
August
2009
Total Labor Force
355,800
356,800
358,800
-1,000
-3,000
Employment
334,500
335,500
333,900
-1,000
600
Unemployment
21,300
21,300
24,900
0
-3,600
Rate (%)
6.0
6.0
6.9
0.0
-0.9
Vermont’s labor force, employment and unemployment statistics are produced from a combination of a Statewide survey of households and statistical modeling. The data are produced by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program (LAUS) a cooperative program with the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Vermont Department of Labor.