Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s jobs outlook continues to slowly improve. The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for February was 3.0 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised January rate, as all the key indicators improved: the rate was down, the labor force and number of employed increased, and total unemployed fell. Vermont ranked sixth best, while New Hampshire had the lowest rate in the nation at 2.7 percent and New Mexico was highest of any state at 6.8 percent.
The national rate in February was 4.7 percent. As of the prior month’s preliminary data, the Burlington-South Burlington Metropolitan NECTA was tied for second lowest unemployment rate in the country for all metropolitan areas at 2.6 percent (not-seasonally-adjusted).
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February 2017 Adjusted Ranked
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“For the seventh year in a row, Vermont employers reported a greater number of jobs in our state’s economy compared to the previous year. Over the same period, Vermont has also seen a decline in the number of unemployed Vermonters. For these positive trends to continue, we are all going to have to work together to make sure students, the currently unemployed and under-employed, and anyone considering relocating to Vermont are getting the correct information about the Vermont economy. Vermont businesses of all sizes, representing many diverse industries, have jobs at all levels and are hiring. Businesses and individuals alike are encouraged to work with their local Vermont Department of Labor Career Resource Center to fill open positions”, said Labor Commissioner Lindsay Kurrle.
The seasonally-adjusted Vermont data for February show the Vermont civilian labor force increased by 800 from the prior month’s revised estimate. The number of employed increased by 900 and the number of unemployed decreased by 150. None of the changes were statistically significant in the seasonally-adjusted series.
The February unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 2.4 percent in Burlington-South Burlington to 7.1 percent in Derby (note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally-adjusted). For comparison, the February unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 3.4 percent which reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised unadjusted January level and a decrease of two-tenths of one percentage point from a year ago.
Not-Seasonally-Adjusted
The preliminary ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ jobs estimates for February show an increase of 1,500 jobs when compared to the revised January numbers. There was an increase of 600 jobs between the preliminary and the revised January estimates due to the inclusion of more data. The monthly increase seen in the February numbers was attributable to typical seasonal movements in public and private education. 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’ February data, Total Private industries have increased by 3,700 jobs (1.5 percent) and Government (including public education) employment has increased by 100 jobs (0.2 percent) in the past year.
Seasonally-Adjusted
The seasonally-adjusted data for February reports no change from the revised January data. As with the ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ data, this over-the-month change is from the revised January numbers which experienced an increase of 700 jobs from the preliminary estimates. The seasonally-adjusted over-the-month changes in February were mixed at the industry level. Those with a notable percent increase include: Construction (+600 jobs or +3.8%), Real Estate, Rental & Leasing (+100 jobs or +3.6%), and Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities (+200 jobs or +2.5%). Sectors with a notable percent decrease include: Wholesale Trade (-300 jobs or -3.1%), Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (-100 jobs or -2.2%), and State Government (-400 jobs or -2.1%).
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.
The Unemployment and Jobs Report for March is scheduled to be released on Friday, April 21, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.