The Vermont Department of Labor has released data showing the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for August was 1.8%. This reflects no change from the prior month’s revised estimate. The civilian labor force participation rate was 64.0% in August, an increase of one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate.

While the Vermont seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate held at 1.8% in August, the comparable United States rate in August was 3.8%, an increase of three-tenths of one percentage point from the revised July estimate. The seasonally-adjusted Vermont data for August show the Vermont civilian labor force increased by 771 from the prior month’s revised estimate (see Table 1). The number of employed persons increased by 670 and the number of unemployed persons increased by 101. No changes were statistically significant in the seasonally-adjusted series.

The August unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 1.7% in White River Junction to 3.1% in Derby (note: local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally-adjusted – see Table 2). For comparison, the August unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 2.2%, an increase of four-tenths of one percentage point from the revised unadjusted July level and a decrease of six-tenths of one percentage point from a year ago.

The seasonally-adjusted data for August reported a decrease of 300 jobs from the revised July data. There was a decrease of 1,900 jobs between the preliminary and the revised July estimates due to the inclusion of more data. The seasonally-adjusted over-the-month changes in August were varied at the industry level. Those with a notable increase included: State Government (+600 jobs or +3.3%) and Finance & Insurance (+100 jobs or +1.1%). Industries with a notable decrease included: Private Education Services (-400 jobs or -3.3%) and Local Government (-500 jobs or -1.6%)

The preliminary ‘not-seasonally-adjusted’ jobs estimates for August showed a decrease of 900 jobs when compared to the revised July numbers. As with the seasonally-adjusted data, this over-the-month change is from the revised July numbers which experienced an increase of 400 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 August data, Total Private industries increased by 1,300 jobs (+0.5%) over the year and Government (including public education) employment increased by 2,300 jobs (+4.6%) in the past year.