August 20, 2010

For Immediate Release

Contact: Mathew Barewicz, 802-828-4153

Unemployment rate unchanged in July at 6.0 percent

Montpelier -- The Vermont Department of Labor announced today the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July 2010 was unchanged from the previous month’s report holding steady at 6.0 percent. Compared to a year ago, the July unemployment rate is lower by 1.1%.

“Based on the preliminary data, the Vermont unemployment rate remained unchanged in the month of July as did the national unemployment rate,” said Valerie Rickert, Acting Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor. “The reported dip in employment from last month is related to seasonal influences and was anticipated. The overall trend of the Vermont economy remains stable. Compared to a year ago, there are 4,100 fewer Vermonters reporting being unemployed.”

Analysis of Job Changes by Industry

The preliminary ‘Not Seasonally Adjusted’ jobs numbers for July show a decline of -7,650 jobs when compared to the revised June numbers. While Total Private reports an increase of 2,200 jobs, the decline in Local Government Education of -9,950 offsets reported gains in the private industry. This decline in Local Government Education is typical for July and we anticipate a reversal of course in the September data when public schools are back in session. In July, Manufacturing reported a small pullback of -150 jobs as did Health Care and Social Assistance with an over the month decline of -400. The increase in unadjusted employment in the Private Sector was predominately comprised of an increase of +1,050 in Accommodations & Food Services, +850 jobs in Construction, +650 jobs in Colleges, Universities & Professional, and +350 jobs in Professional, Scientific, and Technical.

The annual rate of unadjusted job growth was -0.6%, which is unchanged from the revised June estimate.

Considering the seasonally adjusted data, the total job loss (-800) in July (see graph) was broad-based with 500 jobs lost in Private Industries and 300 jobs lost in Total Government. While many industries’ over the month change was flat, three sectors led the overall decline in the seasonally adjusted statistics: Health Care & Social Assistance (-600), Accommodation & Food Services (-200 on the heels of a greater than expected increase last month), and though not published, Federal Government likely had an approximate decline of 900 jobs due predominately to the scale back of intermittent Federal Census workers. For industries with seasonally adjusted job gains, Construction led all private industries with an increase of 600 jobs. Professional, Scientific and Technical Services also had a strong month with an increase of 400 jobs.

State of Vermont Overview

Vermont’s July seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained the same at 6.0 percent as a result of a relatively greater decline in the number of unemployed versus the reported declines in the labor force and the number employed. For comparison purposes, the US seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 9.5 percent, also unchanged from June.

July unemployment rates for Vermont’s 17 labor market areas ranged from 3.9 percent in Hartford to 7.7 percent in Newport. Local labor market area unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. For comparison, the July unadjusted unemployment rate for Vermont was 5.7 percent, which was three tenths of a percentage point lower than the revised June data and down a full percent from a year ago.

For details, please contact Mathew Barewicz at the Vermont Department of Labor at 802-828-4153 or Mathew.Barewicz@state.vt.us .

Vermont Labor Force Statistics (Seasonally Adjusted)
				Changes From
	July 2010	June 2010	July 2009	June 2010	July 2009

Total Labor Force	356,700	358,800	359,300	-2,100	-2,600
Employment	335,500	337,200	333,900	-1,700	1,600
Unemployment	21,300	21,600	25,400	-300	-4,100
Rate (%)	6.0	6.0	7.1	0.0	-1.1
Vermont’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.