Changes From The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March 2009 was 7.1 percent, down one-tenth of a point from the revised March rate and up 2.5 points from a year ago. Unemployment rates for Vermont s 17 labor market areas ranged from 4.2 percent in Hartford to 10.9 percent in Newport. Local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. For comparison, the April unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 7.7 percent, down two-tenths of a point from March 2009 and up 2.9 points from a year ago. Job and employment losses moderated in April with the state actually growing employment over the month. said Patricia Moulton Powden, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor. While this may be a sign of stability, it is still too early to say that the job market has turned the corner. Job gains took place mostly in construction where we would expect a seasonal boost and where the early use of Government Stimulus Funds has been focused.Job GrowthApril is a month where we typically see a downturn in unadjusted job counts as winter seasonal activities fall and the warm weather activities have not yet fully engaged. Before seasonal adjustment, Total Non-Farm (TNF) jobs fell by 1,950 and by 12,600 or -4.1% on an annual basis. This represents a small decline in the rate of annual job loss as compared to March. Construction, (+1,750 jobs or +16.4%) led the over the month growth. Retail Trade (+500 or +1.4%), Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities, (+200 or +2.4%) and Administrative Support & Waste, (+400 or 5.7%) also grew unadjusted jobs over the month. Only Healthcare (+1,400 or 3.1%), Government, (+100 or +0.2% )and Education (+150 or 1.1%) showed significant annual improvement.When seasonally adjusted, April job levels grew by 500 jobs or +0.2% from March, but still remain down by 12,600 or -4.1% from April of 2008. The Construction sector grew by 500 seasonally adjusted jobs or 3.9% over March. The Retail Trade sector also grew by 400 seasonally adjusted jobs or 1.1% over March. Healthcare and Education showed small seasonally adjusted increases of 100 jobs each.Employment GrowthVermont s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a point to 7.1 percent in April as a result of increases in the number of employed, (+1,400 to 334,700) and a small decrease in the number of unemployed Vermonters, (-400 to 25,500). Vermont s observed April seasonally adjusted employment, unemployment levels and unemployment rate were not statistically significant from March. For comparison purposes, the US seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April was 8.9 percent, up four-tenths of a point from the revised March rate of 8.5 percent.The preliminary estimates of nonfarm jobs for April, and the revisions to the estimates for November 2008 through March 2009, incorporate substantive changes made in the Current Employment Survey estimation procedures. These new procedures are designed to bring the aggregate monthly change in jobs for individual states into closer alignment with the change in national job counts reflected in the estimates produced and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a result of these changes, the November 2008 and forward estimates may not be totally comparable to previous months’ data. The impact of these changes in methodology will be better understood when we are able to make comparisons to Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. We expect to make these comparisons beginning in May of 2009. For details of these changes, please contact Andy Condon at the Vermont Department of Labor at 802-828-4153 or andrew.condon@state.vt.us(link sends e-mail).Source: Vt Dept of LaborVermont Labor Force Statistics (Seasonally Adjusted) April 2009March 2009April 2008March 2009April 2008Total Labor Force360,300359,100355,3001,2005,000 Employment334,700333,300338,9001,400-4,200 Unemployment25,50025,90016,400-4009,100 Rate (%)7.17.24.6-0.12.5Vermont s labor force, employment and unemployment statistics are produced from a combination of a Statewide survey of households and statistical modeling. The data are produced by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program (LAUS) a cooperative program with the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Vermont Department of Labor.
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