The Vermont Department of Labor announced today the seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for April 2011 was 5.3 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point to the statewide rate from the previously reported March level of 5.4 percent. Compared to a year ago (April 2010), the statewide unemployment rate has trended down by 1.2 percent.
‘While the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased, Vermont’s unemployment rate decreased again this month, continuing the trend towards a slowly recovering economy. April is historically a challenging month for Vermont as many employers in the tourism industry begin to transition away from a busy winter to the quieter months of spring. Yet, we were pleased to see a positive trend, despite seasonal fluctuations. Vermont still needs to focus economic development activities in our local labor markets that are struggling to create jobs and where unemployment exceeds the statewide average’, said Vermont Department of Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan.
State of Vermont Overview
While Vermont’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased one-tenth of a percent to 5.3 percent in April, the United States seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April increased by two-tenths of a percent to 9.0 percent. The underlying Vermont data show total employment was flat and both the labor force and total unemployment decreased by 400. While both changes are not statistically significant, the change in the labor force (-400) is the first reported decline since August of 2010.
The national jobless rate edged up by 0.2 percentage point between March and April to 9.0 percent, but was 0.8 point lower than a year earlier.
Thirty-nine states recorded unemployment rate decreases,three states and the District of Columbia registered rate increases, and eight states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Forty-six states and the District of Columbia posted unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier, three states reported increases, and one state had no change. (See tables by state below)
April unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 4.1 percent in Harford to 9.3 percent in Newport. (Note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted). For comparison, the April unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 5.9 percent which is down one-tenth of a percent from the March data. This unadjusted statewide data is down one percentage point from a year ago.
Analysis of Job Changes by Industry
The preliminary ‘not seasonally adjusted’ jobs numbers for April show a decrease of 4,650 jobs when compared to the revised March numbers. This reported over the month change does not include the 150 job decrease between the preliminary and the revised March estimates due to the inclusion of more data. As detailed in the preliminary not seasonally adjusted April data, Total Private reports a decrease of 4,500 jobs and Government reports a decrease of 150 jobs. In the private sector, Construction (1,000 jobs) and Professional and Business Services (600 jobs) reported the largest nominal increases. In the not seasonally adjusted data, the reported over the month job loss was concentrated to Leisure & Hospitality which declined by 6,350 jobs.
The seasonally adjusted data for April reports a decrease of 2,200 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 a downward revision from the preliminary estimates (-300 jobs). A review of the seasonally adjusted April numbers shows Vermont’s Private Industries with a decrease of 1,900 jobs. Professional, Scientific and Technical Services industries reported the largest over the month gain (600 jobs). Leading the decline in the seasonally adjusted numbers were Leisure & Hospitality (-1,500 jobs), Retail Trade (-600 jobs) and Construction (-500 jobs). The rest of the over the month changes by industry were minor in magnitude. Total Government decreased by 300 jobs from the revised March counts.
Vermont Labor Force Statistics (Seasonally Adjusted)
Changes From
April
2011
March
2011
April
2010
March
2011
April
2010
Total Labor Force
364,100
364,500
361,500
-400
2,600
Employment
344,700
344,700
338,100
0
6,600
Unemployment
19,400
19,800
23,400
-400
-4,000
Rate (%)
5.3
5.4
6.5
-0.1
-1.2
Vermont’s labor force, employment and unemployment statistics are produced from a combination of a Statewide survey of households and statistical modeling. The data are produced by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program (LAUS) a cooperative program with the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Vermont Department of Labor.
Table A. States with unemployment rates significantly differ-
ent from that of the U.S., April 2011, seasonally adjusted
---------------------------------------------------------------
State | Rate(p)
---------------------------------------------------------------
United States (1) ...................| 9.0
|
Alaska ..............................| 7.3
Arkansas ............................| 7.7
California ..........................| 11.9
Florida .............................| 10.8
Georgia .............................| 9.9
Hawaii ..............................| 6.1
Iowa ................................| 6.0
Kansas ..............................| 6.7
Maine ...............................| 7.6
Maryland ............................| 6.8
|
Massachusetts .......................| 7.8
Michigan ............................| 10.2
Minnesota ...........................| 6.5
Mississippi .........................| 10.4
Montana .............................| 7.3
Nebraska ............................| 4.2
Nevada ..............................| 12.5
New Hampshire .......................| 4.9
New Mexico ..........................| 7.6
New York ............................| 7.9
|
North Dakota ........................| 3.3
Oklahoma ............................| 5.6
Pennsylvania ........................| 7.5
Rhode Island ........................| 10.9
South Dakota ........................| 4.9
Texas ...............................| 8.0
Utah ................................| 7.4
Vermont .............................| 5.3
Virginia ............................| 6.1
Wisconsin ...........................| 7.3
Wyoming .............................| 6.0
---------------------------------------------------------------
1 Data are not preliminary.
p = preliminary.
Table B. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from March 2011 to April 2011, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-month
State | March | April | rate change(p)
| 2011 | 2011(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
California .....................| 12.0 | 11.9 | -0.1
Colorado .......................| 9.2 | 8.8 | -.4
Florida ........................| 11.1 | 10.8 | -.3
Hawaii .........................| 6.3 | 6.1 | -.2
Indiana ........................| 8.5 | 8.2 | -.3
Maryland .......................| 6.9 | 6.8 | -.1
Massachusetts ..................| 8.0 | 7.8 | -.2
Nevada .........................| 13.2 | 12.5 | -.7
New Hampshire ..................| 5.2 | 4.9 | -.3
New Mexico .....................| 8.1 | 7.6 | -.5
| | |
North Dakota ...................| 3.6 | 3.3 | -.3
Ohio ...........................| 8.9 | 8.6 | -.3
Oklahoma .......................| 6.1 | 5.6 | -.5
Oregon .........................| 9.9 | 9.6 | -.3
Pennsylvania ...................| 7.8 | 7.5 | -.3
Texas ..........................| 8.1 | 8.0 | -.1
Utah ...........................| 7.6 | 7.4 | -.2
Virginia .......................| 6.2 | 6.1 | -.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table C. States with statistically significant unemployment rate changes
from April 2010 to April 2011, seasonally adjusted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rate |
|-----------|-----------| Over-the-year
State | April | April | rate change(p)
| 2010 | 2011(p) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Illinois .......................| 10.8 | 8.7 | -2.1
Indiana ........................| 10.5 | 8.2 | -2.3
Maryland .......................| 7.5 | 6.8 | -.7
Michigan .......................| 13.1 | 10.2 | -2.9
Minnesota ......................| 7.5 | 6.5 | -1.0
Nebraska .......................| 4.8 | 4.2 | -.6
Nevada .........................| 14.9 | 12.5 | -2.4
New Hampshire ..................| 6.3 | 4.9 | -1.4
New York .......................| 8.7 | 7.9 | -.8
North Carolina .................| 11.1 | 9.7 | -1.4
| | |
North Dakota ...................| 4.0 | 3.3 | -.7
Ohio ...........................| 10.4 | 8.6 | -1.8
Oklahoma .......................| 7.2 | 5.6 | -1.6
Oregon .........................| 11.0 | 9.6 | -1.4
Pennsylvania ...................| 8.8 | 7.5 | -1.3
South Carolina .................| 11.3 | 9.8 | -1.5
Vermont ........................| 6.5 | 5.3 | -1.2
Virginia .......................| 7.1 | 6.1 | -1.0
Wisconsin ......................| 8.8 | 7.3 | -1.5
Wyoming ........................| 7.2 | 6.0 | -1.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table D. States with statistically significant employment changes from
March 2011 to April 2011, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| March | April | Over-the-month
State | 2011 | 2011(p) | change(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arizona.......................| 2,384,700 | 2,393,300 | 8,600
Arkansas......................| 1,174,900 | 1,179,700 | 4,800
Connecticut...................| 1,617,200 | 1,625,100 | 7,900
Georgia.......................| 3,815,900 | 3,828,600 | 12,700
Kansas........................| 1,314,400 | 1,325,000 | 10,600
Louisiana.....................| 1,887,400 | 1,900,800 | 13,400
Maryland......................| 2,509,700 | 2,521,300 | 11,600
Massachusetts.................| 3,208,500 | 3,228,000 | 19,500
Michigan......................| 3,922,100 | 3,911,900 | -10,200
Nebraska......................| 948,700 | 957,100 | 8,400
| | |
New Hampshire.................| 626,900 | 631,600 | 4,700
New Jersey....................| 3,846,900 | 3,860,900 | 14,000
New York......................| 8,584,100 | 8,629,800 | 45,700
Oklahoma......................| 1,541,300 | 1,552,900 | 11,600
Pennsylvania..................| 5,669,000 | 5,692,700 | 23,700
Texas.........................| 10,524,200 | 10,557,100 | 32,900
Utah..........................| 1,194,300 | 1,199,700 | 5,400
Vermont.......................| 304,400 | 302,200 | -2,200
West Virginia.................| 749,200 | 753,800 | 4,600
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
Table E. States with statistically significant employment changes from
April 2010 to April 2011, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| April | April | Over-the-year
State | 2010 | 2011(p) | change(p)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alaska........................| 322,400 | 330,400 | 8,000
Arkansas......................| 1,160,200 | 1,179,700 | 19,500
California....................| 13,910,700 | 14,054,900 | 144,200
Connecticut...................| 1,605,800 | 1,625,100 | 19,300
Hawaii........................| 585,500 | 593,000 | 7,500
Illinois......................| 5,614,200 | 5,680,800 | 66,600
Kentucky......................| 1,768,900 | 1,793,600 | 24,700
Massachusetts.................| 3,187,200 | 3,228,000 | 40,800
Michigan......................| 3,854,500 | 3,911,900 | 57,400
Nebraska......................| 939,500 | 957,100 | 17,600
| | |
New York......................| 8,568,300 | 8,629,800 | 61,500
North Dakota..................| 373,800 | 388,400 | 14,600
Ohio..........................| 5,029,500 | 5,096,500 | 67,000
Oklahoma......................| 1,526,500 | 1,552,900 | 26,400
Oregon........................| 1,600,200 | 1,624,500 | 24,300
Pennsylvania..................| 5,612,700 | 5,692,700 | 80,000
Tennessee.....................| 2,609,500 | 2,632,500 | 23,000
Texas.........................| 10,302,700 | 10,557,100 | 254,400
Utah..........................| 1,181,100 | 1,199,700 | 18,600
Virginia......................| 3,632,400 | 3,660,500 | 28,100
| | |
Washington....................| 2,780,600 | 2,812,900 | 32,300
West Virginia.................| 744,700 | 753,800 | 9,100
Wisconsin.....................| 2,738,500 | 2,762,200 | 23,700
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.