Vermont’s unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7 percent in July, according to the latest monthly estimates from the Vermont Department of Labor.
The national rate is 6.2 percent. Vermont is tied with South Dakota for the third lowest unemployment rates. North Dakota tops the list at 2.8 percent, followed by Nebraska at 3.6 percent.
Annie Noonan, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, said in a press release that slight increases in the state’s unemployment rate are to be expected in summer, even with adjustments for seasonal volatility.
“This month’s slight increase mirrors the same trend we saw last summer in Vermont, and we hope this will resolve as we move into the early fall, as the economic recovery in Vermont has been slow, but steady,” Noonan said.
When adjusted for seasonal volatility, the civilian labor force increased by 200 workers in July, according to state estimates. The overall number of employed people fell by 950, while the number of unemployed went up by 1,150. The disconnect accounted for the rate increase.
Without seasonal adjustments, preliminary July numbers show a decrease of 5,400 jobs compared to revised June figures. The Labor Department attributed the decline to seasonal decreases in local school employment. At the same time, private industry has added 1,900 jobs (0.7 percent) and total government employment has increased by 500 jobs (1.1 percent).
Locally, the Hartford labor market area held the lowest unemployment rate, at 2.8 percent. Bennington replaced Newport at the top of the scale, at 5.2 percent. The July unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 4 percent which reflects an increase of three-tenths of a percent from the revised June level and a decline of four-tenths of a percent from a year ago.
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