Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment numbers fell steeply last week by more than 300 claims. Claims had spiked to nearly a 1,000 in April. Claims for the week of May 4, 2019, totaled 380, down 283 from last week. Claims were 53 fewer than they were at this time last year.
Altogether 4,255 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 839 from a week ago, and 326 fewer than a year ago. For most weeks of 2017 and 2018 claims were lower than the year before, but have been up and down in 2019. Vermont, like the nation as a whole, is locked into a historically low period of unemployment and a tight labor market.
For UI claims last week by industry, Services, which typically accounts for most claims, represented 64 percent of all claims. Construction claims represented 5 percent for the week, which is about the same as last week and last year. Manufacturing claims represented 10 percent of the total, which was a little lower than last week but much lower than a year ago.
Vermont's unemployment rate for March was 2.3 percent. This is the state's historic low and a decline of one-tenth from the February rate, which also was a historic low. Vermont's rate is tied for lowest in the nation. SEE STORY. The US rate remained at 3.8 percent.
UI tax rates for employers fell again on July 1, 2018, as claims continue to be lower than previous projections. Individual employers' reduced taxable wage rates will vary according to their experience rating; however, the rate reduction will lower the highest UI tax rate from 7.7 percent to 6.5 percent. The lowest UI tax rate will see a reduction from 1.1 percent to 0.8 percent.
Also effective July 1, 2018, the maximum weekly unemployment benefit will be indexed upwards to 57% of the average weekly wage. The current maximum weekly benefit amount is $466, which will increase to $498. Both changes are directly tied to the change in the Tax Rate Schedule.
Vermont's minimum wage rose to $10.78 on January 1, 2019.
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
NOTE: Employment (nonfarm payroll) - A count of all persons who worked full- or part-time or received pay from a nonagricultural employer for any part of the pay period which included the 12th of the month. Because this count comes from a survey of employers, persons who work for two different companies would be counted twice. Therefore, nonfarm payroll employment is really a count of the number of jobs, rather than the number of persons employed. Persons may receive pay from a job if they are temporarily absent due to illness, bad weather, vacation, or labor-management dispute. This count is based on where the jobs are located, regardless of where the workers reside, and is therefore sometimes referred to as employment "by place of work." Nonfarm payroll employment data are collected and compiled based on the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, conducted by the Vermont Department of Labor. This count was formerly referred to as nonagricultural wage and salary employment.
