Weekly unemployment claims fall to 444

Vermont Business MagazineWeekly unemployment claims in Vermont fell for the second week. After a sharp increase two weeks ago, claims are down to their typically low summer level. There were 444 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont, a decrease of 50 from the previous week's total and 44 more than they were a year ago. Generally, claims have been running below last year's totals.

Altogether 4,661 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 339 from a week ago, and 499 fewer than a year ago. The Department processed 0 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), the same asthe previous week.

LMI Monthly Jobs ImageThe total for all programs was 4,661 claims, 339 fewer than last week, and 533 fewer than the same time last year. For the week by industry, Services claims still represent the most claims of any one sector, representing 48 percent of all claims. Manufacturing claims were up sharply while Construction was down slightly.

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 fell two-tenths 3.6 percent in April, as total employment grew and unemployment fell.SEESTORY.

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.