Vermont Business MagazineNew weekly unemployment claims in Vermont fell by over 300 claims last week after a steep spike the week before. Claims had been very low during the summer, trending under 500, but have been high since early October. Levels this year had been running consistently lower than those of last year, but are now nearly the same.Forthe week of Deember 6, 2014, there were 1,070 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 358 from the previous week's total, and 5 more than they were a year ago.
According to Mathew Barewicz, Economic & Labor Market Information Chief at the Vermont Department of Labor, the cause of the recent increase was predominately the result of "a seasonal transition."
Altogether 7,148 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 856 from a week ago and 241 fewer than a year ago. The Department processed 1 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), the same asthe previous week.
There were no Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program. There were zero Tier III claims. The Tier I, II and III programs expired on December 28, 2013. Congress would need to act to renew these extended benefit programs.SEESTORY
The total for all programs was 7,149claims, 856 more than last week, and 1,021 fewer than the same time last year.
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 held at 4.4 percent in October as jobs were added. It was as low as 3.3 percent in May.SEESTORY.
