Today, the Vermont Department of Labor released data on the Vermont economy for the time period covering February 2022. According to household data, the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for February was 2.9 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate.
Commissioner's Message
“Over the past twelve months, the Vermont economy has added over 10,000 jobs. This growth is found in the private sector as Vermont businesses are actively adding employment. The bulk of this increase can be attributed to recovery efforts in the Leisure & Hospitality industry which was disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The second largest increase over the past year is found in the Professional & Business Services sector. According to an alternate data series that lags the monthly data released today, this sector has seen tremendous growth in employment, number of establishments, and wages. This sector is poised for sustained growth as individuals and employers continue to specialize in occupations such as bookkeeping, HR, cybersecurity, management consulting and others, either as an advancing employee or a new business venture.
As Vermont’s employers continue to grow their business and expand operations, more opportunities for jobseekers are becoming available. There has never been a better time to be looking for a job, and our Workforce Development team can help provide a variety of resources and support. As a first step for individuals and employers, I encourage you to visit VermontJobLink.com and create an account to post a job, search, and apply for jobs. To connect with a job specialist or business services staff person, please call 833-719-1051 or visit Labor.Vermont.gov/Jobs.” - Michael Harrington, Commissioner
State of Vermont Overview
The Vermont seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate declined to 2.9 percent in February. The comparable United States rate in February was 3.8 percent, which was a decrease of two-tenths of one percentage point from the revised January estimate. The seasonally-adjusted Vermont data for February show the Vermont civilian labor force increased by 667 from the prior month’s revised estimate (see Table 1). The number of employed persons increased by 1,082 and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 415. The changes to the number of employed persons and the unemployment rate were statistically significant in the seasonally-adjusted series.
The February unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 2.0 percent in White River Junction to 5.8 percent in Derby (note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally-adjusted – see Table 2). For comparison, the February unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 2.8 percent, which was a decrease of seven-tenths of one percentage point from the revised unadjusted January level and a decrease of one and six-tenths of one percentage point from a year ago.
Analysis of Job Changes by Industry
Seasonally-Adjusted (Table 3)
The seasonally-adjusted data for February reports an increase of 100 jobs from the revised January data. There was an increase of 700 jobs between the preliminary and the revised January estimates due to the inclusion of more data. The seasonally-adjusted over-the-month changes in February were varied at the industry level. Those with a notable increase include: Accommodations & Food Services (+600 jobs or +2.2%) and Retail Trade (+400 jobs or +1.2%). Industries with a notable decrease include: State Government (-400 jobs or -2.2%) and Other Services (-200 jobs or -1.9%).
Not-Seasonally-Adjusted (Table 4)
The preliminary ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ jobs estimates for February shows an increase of 2,000 jobs when compared to the revised January numbers. As with the ‘seasonally-adjusted’ data, this over-the-month change is from the revised January numbers which experienced an increase of 1,000 jobs from the preliminary estimates. The broader economic picture can be seen by focusing on the over-the-year changes in this data series. As detailed in the preliminary ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ February data, Total Private industries increased by 10,300 jobs (+4.4%) over the year and Government (including public education) employment is at the same level as February 2021.
The Unemployment and Jobs Report for March is scheduled to be released on Friday, April 15th, 2022 at 10:00am. View the most recent report from our Labor Market Information division at http://www.vtlmi.info/press.pdf.