Vermont’s unemployment rate rose slightly in April to 3.1 percent after holding steady at 3 percent in February and March, according to preliminary data from the Department of Labor.
Vermont tied with Iowa and Utah for the sixth-lowest rate in the country, behind Colorado (2.3 percent), North Dakota (2.7 percent), New Hampshire and South Dakota (2.8 percent), and Nebraska (3 percent), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Mathew Barewicz, the chief of economic and labor market information for the Department of Labor, said the state’s preliminary monthly data has shown an increased unemployment rate two or three times a year for the past several years.
However, he said the department performs an annual review of the preliminary unemployment rates, and the final data usually shows no uptick. He said the same could happen with the April rate.
“Officially, as the ‘historical data’ reads today, the recently released April 2017 data would be the first increase to the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Vermont since May 2009,” Barewicz said via email. “That said, I will note that the data released is preliminary and subject to future revision.”
Lindsay Kurrle, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, said in a statement that fewer than 11,000 people are unemployed — the least since around 2001.
“At the heart of the last recession, there were over 25,000 unemployed Vermonters,” Kurrle said. “But even having one Vermonter unemployed and unable to provide for themselves and their family is too many.”
Kurrle urged workers and employers alike to visit the Department of Labor’s 12 regional career resource centers for services like help with writing resumes, practicing interviewing, advertising job openings and organizing job fairs.
