Weekly unemployment claims spiked with the end of school as the number of new claims doubled in two weeks. For the week there were 962 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is an increase of 375 claims from the week before and 191 more than last year's total.
Altogether 6,595 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 45 from a week ago and 693 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 1,394 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), one more than a week ago. In addition, there were 633 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is 40 fewer than the week before. The Tier II program of extended benefits is being discontinued in Vermont as the state's unemployment rate has been under the federal threshold for three months.
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 remained at 4.6 percent in May. This is the lowest rate in New England and fourth lowest in the US. SEE STORY