Weekly unemployment claims increase

Weekly unemployment claims climbed back over 800 as claims continue to bounce up and down this summer. For the week there were 850 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is an increase of 169 claims from the week before and 53 more than last year's total.

Altogether 6,710 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 93 from a week ago but 858 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 1,337 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 50 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 600 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is 6 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