Today, the Vermont Department of Labor released data on the Vermont economy for the time period covering April 2021. According to household data, the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for April was 2.9 percent. This reflects no change from the prior month’s revised estimate.
Commissioner's Message
“It’s important to look at this month’s report with a bit of historical context. We are now 12 months from the worst part of the current recession. In April 2020, there were fewer than 200,000 private-sector jobs, a decline of over 60,000 from April 2019. Due in part to the steep decline last spring, this month’s employment numbers as reported by Vermont businesses look extremely positive with a 20% increase over the year in private-sector employment. While many private-sector jobs have returned, the Vermont economy is still down an estimated 18,800 private-sector jobs since before the pandemic. Additionally, there are over 30,000 fewer people employed with an increasing number of the unemployed population classified as ‘long-term unemployed,’ those unemployed for 27 weeks or more. The impacts of COVID-19 are a significant factor in this data. Nonetheless, long periods of unemployment can have lingering effects on individuals, making it more difficult to rejoin the workforce. The Department of Labor’s Workforce Development Division can help mitigate these negative outcomes through in-person or virtual services so that unemployed Vermonters can find meaningful employment. Visit www.labor.vermont.gov/jobs to connect with our workforce development team today.” - Michael Harrington, Labor Commissioner
State of Vermont Overview
The Vermont seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate remained the same at 2.9 percent in April. The comparable United States rate in April was 6.1 percent, which was an increase of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised March estimate. The seasonally-adjusted Vermont data for April show the Vermont civilian labor force decreased by 249 from the prior month’s revised estimate (see Table 1). The number of employed persons decreased by 56 and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 193. None of the changes were statistically significant in the seasonally-adjusted series.
The April unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 2.5 percent in Northfield-Waitsfield and Burlington-South Burlington to 4.5 percent in Derby (note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally-adjusted – see Table 2). For comparison, the April unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 3.0 percent, which was a decrease of two-tenths of one percentage point from the revised unadjusted March level and a decrease of twelve percentage points from a year ago.
Analysis of Job Changes by Industry
Seasonally-Adjusted (Table 3)
The seasonally-adjusted data for April reports an increase of 2,100 jobs from the revised March data. There was an increase of 600 jobs between the preliminary and the revised March estimates due to the inclusion of more data. The seasonally-adjusted over-the-month changes in April varied at the industry level. Those with a notable increase include: Accommodation & Food Services (+1,800 jobs or +8.0%), Real Estate, Rental & Leasing (+100 jobs or +3.4%) and Finance & Insurance (+200 jobs or +2.2%). Industries with a notable decrease include: Mining & Logging (-100 jobs or -12.5%), Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities (-200 jobs or -2.5%) and Administrative & Waste Services (-200 jobs or -1.6%).
Not-Seasonally-Adjusted (Table 4)
The preliminary ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ jobs estimates for April shows a decrease of 2,000 jobs when compared to the revised March numbers. As with the ‘seasonally-adjusted’ data, this over-the-month change is from the revised March numbers which experienced a decrease of 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’ April data, Total Private industries have increased by 39,800 jobs (+20.4%) and Government (including public education) employment has decreased by 400 jobs (-0.8%) in the past year.
The Unemployment and Jobs Report for May is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, June 23 2021 at 10:00 a.m. Read full report at http://www.vtlmi.info/press.pdf.