Vermont Business MagazineThe labor force and total employed are both way up in April for both the month and the year.The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for April was 2.8 percent. This reflects no change from the revised March rate. The comparable United States rate in April is 3.9 percent, which was a decrease of two-tenths of one percentage point from the revisedMarchestimate. The seasonally-adjusted Vermont data for April show the Vermont civilian labor force increased by 1,076 from the prior month’s revised estimate (up 3,452 for the year). The number of employed persons increased by 1,062 (up 4,487 for the year) and the number of unemployed persons increased by 14 (down 1,035 for the year).
As of the prior month’s preliminary data, the Burlington-South Burlington Metropolitan NECTA had the sixth lowest unemployment rate in the country for all metropolitan areas. Overall, Vermont’s unemployment rate was tied for the fifth lowest in the country for the same time period.
“Vermont’s economy is showing strong labor force growth in 2018. This four-month trend is being driven by increases in the number of employed Vermonters. The message is getting out that Vermont employers are hiring. The Department can assist employers in the recruitment of talent by posting jobs, pre-screening applicants and developing training programs. Employers and jobseekers alike should contact any one of the Department’s12 Career Resource Centers to learn more about our services,” said Labor Commissioner Lindsay Kurrle.
The changes to the labor force and the number of employed were statistically significant in the seasonally-adjusted series.
The Aprilunemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 2.2 percent in Burlington-South Burlington to 5.9 percent in Derby (note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally-adjusted). For comparison, the April unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 3.0 percent which reflects no change from the revised unadjusted March level and a decrease of two-tenthsof one percentage point from a year ago.
Not-Seasonally-Adjusted
The preliminary ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ jobs estimates for April show a decrease of 3,100 jobs when compared to the revised March numbers. There was a decrease of 200 jobs between the preliminary and the revised March estimates due to the inclusion of more data. The monthly decrease seen in the April numbers was primarily attributable to seasonal movements in leisure and hospitality. The broader economic trends can be detected by focusing on the over-the-year changes in this data series. As detailed in the preliminary ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ April data, Total Private industries have increased by 100 jobs (0.0 percent) and Government (including public education) employment has increased by 300 jobs (0.5 percent) in the past year.
Seasonally-Adjusted
The seasonally-adjusted data for April reports an increase of 400 jobs from the revised March data. As with the ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ data, this over-the-month change is from the revised March numbers which experienced no change from the preliminary estimates. The seasonally-adjusted over-the-month changes in April were minor at the sector level. Those with a notable percent increase include: Information (+100 jobs or +2.3%) and Construction (+200 jobs or +1.3%). Sectors with a notable percent decrease include: Mining & Logging (-100 jobs or -12.5%) and Federal Government (-100 jobs or -1.4%).
Source: Vermont DOL 5.18.2018