The seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate held steady in July at 3.6 percent, the same as the revised rate for June, according to Vermont Department of Labor figures released Friday.
The national average for July was 5.3 percent, and also showed no change from June. Initial figures from June placed Vermont’s unemployment rate at the fourth lowest in the U.S., according to a Department of Labor news release.
The state’s civilian labor force added 400 jobs in July, while the number of people counted as unemployed remained the same, according to the department. The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Vermont’s 17 labor markets ranged from 3 percent in Burlington-South Burlington to 4.9 percent in Derby.
“The last few months have seen little change from the slow, but positive, trend of the Vermont economy,” said Labor Department Commissioner Annie Noonan in a prepared statement.
In the coming months, the state will have more clarity on its long-term economic outlook, according to Noonan, as factors such as interest rates are decided.
There is still strong demand from Vermont employers for workers in “many areas of our economy” Noonan says in her statement. People looking for work should visit their local Department of Labor Career Resource Center, she added.
The state will also host a job fair Sept. 15 at the Sheraton in South Burlington.
