The Vermont Department of Labor announced today the seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for calendar year 2010 trended down by nine tenths of a percentage point. The year ended with a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 5.8 percent which was a tenth of a percent higher than the November rate. This final over the month change was the only increase in 2010. It was preceded by a mix of five months of no change and six declines in the statewide unemployment rate.
‘The growth in the Vermont labor force outpaced the growth in total employment in the last month of 2010,’ said Annie Noonan, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor. ‘Historically, early periods of economic expansion have been occasionally marked by temporary increases to the unemployment rate as individuals return to the labor force seeking work, but in advance of actually have secured employment. We anticipate this to be one of those periods as economic data continues to suggest a slow but positive trend towards economic recovery. Overall, as we look back, the performance of the Vermont economy exceeded expectations in 2010,’ Noonan concluded.
Analysis of Job Changes by Industry
The preliminary ‘not seasonally adjusted’ jobs numbers for December show an increase of 3,050 jobs when compared to the revised November numbers. This reported over the month change does not include the 600 job increase between the preliminary and the revised November estimates due to the revision process and the inclusion of more sample data. As detailed in the preliminary December data, Total Private reports an increase of 3,100 jobs and Government reports a minor decrease of 50 jobs. In the private sector, the industries with notable increases were Leisure and Hospitality (+4,700 jobs) and Manufacturing (+300 jobs). Construction (-1,300 jobs) and Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-500 jobs) reported the largest nominal declines.
Based on the preliminary December data, the annual rate of unadjusted job growth returned to negative territory this month (-0.1%). This is a decline from the revised November estimate by two tenths of a percent.
The seasonally adjusted data for December reports a decrease of 1,100 jobs from the revised November data. As with the ‘not seasonally adjusted’ data, this over the month change is from the revised November numbers which experienced a positive revision from the preliminary November estimates (+700 jobs). A review of the seasonally adjusted December numbers shows Vermont’s Private Industries with a job decline of 800 jobs. Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (-500), Educational and Health Services (-500) and Construction (-400) reported the largest job losses by industry. As for advancing industries, Leisure and Hospitality (+800) and Manufacturing (+400 jobs) led the way with positive increases in the seasonally adjusted data. Total Government declined by 300 jobs from the revised November counts.
State of Vermont Overview
Vermont’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased one tenth of a percent to 5.8 percent in December. The underlying data showed increases to the labor force (+1,200), total employment (+1,000), and to total unemployment (+200). For comparison purposes, the United States seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December showed a four tenths of a percent decrease to 9.4 percent.
December unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 3.8 percent in Warren-Waitsfield to 8.3 percent in Newport. Local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. For comparison, the December unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 5.6 percent, which was one tenth of a percentage point lower than the revised November data and down one percentage point from a year ago.