Vermont’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.4 percent in October, according to a report released Friday by the Department of Labor. The leveling follows four consecutive months of increases in the seasonally adjusted jobless rate.
The U.S. average unemployment rate ticked down one-tenth of a point to 5.8 percent. Nationwide, Vermont tied with Kansas for ninth place among states with the lowest unemployment rates. Since September, New Hampshire has held the lowest unemployment rate in New England; its current figure is estimated at 4.2 percent.
Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan said the summer slowdown in employment may be reversing direction.
“Vermont employers are reporting increased opportunities throughout the state,” she said.
October unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas, where data are not seasonally adjusted, ranged from 2.4 percent in Woodstock to 4.3 percent in Bennington and Newport.
For comparison, the October unadjusted unemployment rate for all of Vermont was 3.4 percent, reflecting an eight-tenths of a percentage point decrease from revised September numbers that equates to 4,200 jobs. The increase is largely attributable to education.
Examining nonseasonally adjusted employment year-over-year, manufacturing has grown by 3.2 percent, or 1,000 jobs, since October 2013. The growth occurred despite an estimated loss of 600 positions in computer and electrical equipment manufacturing. Food manufacturing made up some of the losses with a 7.7 percent gain, or 400 jobs. The information sector has declined by roughly 4.4 percent, or 200 positions.
At the tail end of the leaf-peeping season, leisure and hospitality dropped 600 jobs from September, but still added 400 jobs overall from the same time last year. Those annual gains stemmed mostly from accommodations, as food service jobs dropped by 1,500, or 7.7 percent. Retail trade added 600 jobs for 1.6 percent annual growth.
