There were 1,224 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, an increase of 1190 from the week before as filings continue their upward trend. The September Vermont unemployment rate is 6.7 percent, down one-tenth from August. However, economists believe that it will rise to over 7 percent by the end of this year. The current US rate is 9.7 percent. Altogether 9,981 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 410 from a week ago and 3,076 more than a year earlier. The Department also processed 4,746 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 23 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 1,171 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 96 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