There were 1,034 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, an increase of 134 from the week before as filings continue their upward trend. The September Vermont unemployment rate was also released today and actually went down one-tenth to 6.7 percent. However, economists believe that it will rise dramatically by the end of this year. The current US rate is 9.7 percent. Altogether 9,571 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 239 from a week ago and 3,029 more than a year earlier. The Department also processed 4,723 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 62 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 1,075 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 62 from the week before. 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