Vermont’s Unemployment Rate Decreased to 2.1 Percent in July

Today, the Vermont Department of Labor released data on the Vermont economy for the time period covering July 2022. According to household data, the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for July was 2.1 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate. The civilian labor force participation rate rose to 61.7 percent in July.

Commissioner's Message

“Vermont’s labor force has grown, every month this year. This is welcome news for businesses looking to hire, but even with the addition of about 7,000 to the labor force, the labor force in Vermont remains around 20,000 below pre-pandemic levels. The difficulty of hiring for Vermont businesses can be seen in the monthly job openings data which shows 15 consecutive months of total job openings above 20,000. Prior to this streak, the historical data never exceeded this threshold, making this an excellent time for those looking for work or those interested in changing careers. The Department has resources for both jobseekers and those looking to hire, and we would love the opportunity to help, so give us a call or find us online.” - Michael Harrington, Commissioner

State of Vermont Overview

The Vermont seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate declined to 2.1 percent in July. The comparable United States rate in July was 3.5 percent, a decrease of one tenth of one percentage point from the revised June estimate. The seasonally-adjusted Vermont data for July show the Vermont civilian labor force increased by 860 from the prior month’s revised estimate (see Table 1). The number of employed persons increased by 1,129 and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 269. The change to the number of employed was statistically significant in the seasonally-adjusted series.

The July unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 1.7 percent in White River Junction and Burlington-South Burlington to 3.3 percent in Derby (note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally-adjusted – see Table 2). For comparison, the July unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 2.1 percent, a decrease of four-tenths of one percentage point from the revised unadjusted June level and a decrease of one and two-tenths percentage points from a year ago.

Analysis of Job Changes by Industry

Seasonally-Adjusted (Table 3)

The seasonally-adjusted data for July reported an increase of 1,700 jobs from the revised June data. There was an increase of 1,000 jobs between the preliminary and the revised June estimates due to the inclusion of more data. The seasonally-adjusted over-the-month changes in July were varied at the industry level. Those with a notable increase included:  Local Government (+2,100 jobs or +7.2%), Federal Government (+300 jobs or +4.5%), and Other Services (+400 jobs or +4.0%). Industries with a notable decrease included: Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (-200 jobs or -4.3%), Private Educational Services (-500 jobs or -3.9%), and Finance & Insurance (-200 jobs or -2.2%).

Not-Seasonally-Adjusted (Table 4)

The preliminary ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ jobs estimates for July showed an increase of 500 jobs when compared to the revised June numbers. As with the ‘seasonally-adjusted’ data, this over-the-month change is from the revised June numbers which experienced an increase of 2,100 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’ July data, Total Private industries increased by 4,000 jobs (+1.6%) over the year and Government (including public education) employment has increased by 3,200 jobs (+6.7%) in the past year.

Note: a processing error in the Current Employment Statistics program led to incorrect data being published on July 22, 2022. The error impacted Private Educational Services, Education & Health Services, Total Private and Total Nonfarm Employment estimates for May and June of 2022. VTLMI.info publications and data were updated to reflect the corrected information on August 12, 2022

The Unemployment and Jobs Report for August is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 16th, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.iew the most recent report at VTlmi.info/press.pdf.