Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims in Vermont increased again by 33 from last week and by 78 from last year to 316, which is about 100 more than at the beginning of October. Ongoing claims were 1,966, up 94 from last week but 50 fewer than last year. Service-related employment as usual accounted for the majority of claims.
Meanwhile across the nation, in the week ending October 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims in the US was 241,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 258,000 to 260,000. The 4-week moving average was 236,250, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 231,000 to 231,500.
According to Reuters
, the Fed, which raised its policy rate by 525 basis points in 2022 and 2023 to tame inflation, is expected to lower rates by only 25 basis points next week as consumer spending remains solid and inflation has fallen. The U.S. central bank
last month cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large 50 basis points to the 4.75%-5.00% range, the first reduction in borrowing costs since 2020, highlighting rising risks to the labor market.
According to the US DOL, in the week ending October 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 216,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 227,000 to 228,000. The 4-week moving average was 236,500, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 238,500 to 238,750.
According to CNBC, job creation in October slowed to its weakest pace since late 2020 as the impacts of storms in the Southeast and a significant labor impasse dented the employment picture.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 12,000 for the month in US, down sharply from September and below the Dow Jones estimate for 100,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. In what had already been expected to be a downbeat report, October posted the smallest gain since December 2020.
The Vermont Unemployment Trust Fund is well capitalized. As of the previous week, there was $309.8 million in the Trust Fund. The pre-pandemic Trust Fund balance on March 1, 2020, was $506.2 million.
Vermont unemployment rate
The seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for September was 2.2 percent. This reflects no change from the prior month’s revised estimate. The comparable United States rate in September was 4.1 percent, a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised August estimate.
The seasonally adjusted Vermont data for September released October 22 show the Vermont civilian labor force decreased by 18 from the prior month’s revised estimate. The number of employed persons decreased by 210 and the number of unemployed persons increased by 192.
None of the changes were statistically significant in the seasonally adjusted series. Vermont continues to have the second lowest unemployment rate in the US, with South Dakota at 2.0 percent and Nevada highest at 5.6 percent.
The civilian labor force participation rate was 65.7 percent in September, no change from the prior month’s revised estimate.
The September unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 1.9 percent in White River Junction to 3.0 percent in Derby (note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally-adjusted – see Table 2). For comparison, the September unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 2.2 percent, a decrease of two-tenths of one percentage point from the revised unadjusted August level and an increase of two-tenths of one percentage point from a year ago.
To support vital journalism, access our archives and get unique features like our award-winning profiles, Book of Lists & Business-to-Business Directory, subscribe HERE!
