Vermont Business Magazine As of yet, there has been little impact on jobs from the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Vermont on weekly unemployment claims (which lag the actual economy). US claims however have started to show a major increase. Initial claims for the week of March 14, 2020, were 661, up 215. Claims were only 20 more than they were at this time last year.
Altogether 5,545 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 120 from a week ago and 315 fewer than a year ago.
Nationwide, according to the US Labor Department for the week ending March 14, initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to 281,000 from the 211,000 a week ago. Economists are anticipating that this is just the beginning of a steep increase.
The 4-week moving average rose 16,500 to 232,250 claims, the highest level since January 2018. After a long decline from the Great Recession in 2009, claims have generally leveled off over the past year.
For UI claims last week in Vermont by industry, Services, which typically accounts for most claims, represented 61 percent of all claims, with virtually all the new claims coming in this category. Construction claims were at 17 percent for the week, which in total terms was about the same as the previous week. Manufacturing was lower than last week at 8 percent percent.
Vermont's unemployment rate for January held at 2.4 percent. Vermont's rate is tied for second lowest in the nation. SEE STORY. The US rate in January rose one-tenth to 3.6 percent. The Unemployment and Jobs Report for February is scheduled to be released on March 27.
Stories:
January tax revenues ahead of targets to start year
Businesses to see double-digit rate decrease in workers’ comp insurance in 2020
Tax revenues finish year nearly $60 million above targets
UI tax rates for employers fell again on July 1, 2018, as claims continue to be lower than previous projections. Individual employers' reduced taxable wage rates will vary according to their experience rating; however, the rate reduction will lower the highest UI tax rate from 7.7 percent to 6.5 percent. The lowest UI tax rate will see a reduction from 1.1 percent to 0.8 percent.
Also effective July 1, 2018, the maximum weekly unemployment benefit will be indexed upwards to 57% of the average weekly wage. The current maximum weekly benefit amount is $466, which will increase to $498. Both changes are directly tied to the change in the Tax Rate Schedule.
Vermont's minimum wage rose to $10.78 on January 1, 2019.
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.
