Weekly unemployment claims continue at high level

There were 1,115 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, the second time in three weeks claims have spiked over 1,000. This is an increase of 321 from the week before, as new claims remain at a high level in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene. In looking at the table below, you will see that the summer's historically low claims came to an abrupt end with the storm. The numbers then dropped signifcantly in the following weeks, but in the last several weeks there has been mostly an increase in the number of new claims.
The latest numbers are more than double the initial claims observed in July and August. Altogether 7,171 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 982 from a week ago, but 2,392 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 1,557 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 165 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 679 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is 44 more than the week before. 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
Vermont's unemployment rate fell two-tenths in October to 5.6 percent. SEE STORY HERE.