By Patrick Mcardle
Staff Writer
Unemployment decreased in Vermont from June to July by more than 1% but continues to be more than three times the unemployment rate from July 2019, which Michael Harrington, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, is attributing to the pandemic.
Vermont declared a state of emergency in March and began efforts to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19. Gov. Phil Scott has taken steps to “re-open” the economy but said last week those efforts needed to be carefully measured so Vermont does not lose the gains it has made.
In July, the unemployment rate was 8.3%, a reduction of 1.2% from the June unemployment rate of 9.5%.
But the unemployment rate in July 2019 was 2.4%, a difference of almost 6%.
In a statement, Harrington said the July numbers “reflect continued improvements” in Vermont’s employment situation.
“The number of unemployed persons is a little more than half of its April peak but the economic impacts of COVID-19 are still readily apparent. The department continues to prioritize the administration of unemployment insurance benefits and the connecting of job seekers with hiring employers as we, the state, focus on both the response and recovery from this global pandemic,” Harrington said.
The labor department is offering virtual services and online job fairs as well as hosting Vermont Jobs Link as a site for employers to advertise positions.
Mathew Barewicz, economic and labor market information director for the Vermont Department of Labor, said Friday that as an economist, he usually doesn’t view the statistics he sees as “good” or “bad,” but said, “as a human, anyone can look outside and see that things are different.”
Barewicz said it was clear the pandemic has affected Vermont as much as it has the rest of the world but noted the report shows businesses reporting an increase in jobs and Vermonters reporting a decrease in the number of people who consider themselves unemployed.
Barewicz said the numbers were trending in the same direction for the June report but said the rate of change has slowed.
“This data does show that while things improved slightly, we are still in a pandemic. Year over year, there’s no doubt this situation is much different, much less economic activity,” he said.
According to the labor department, Vermont’s civilian labor force is about 339,000 people. In July, about 310,650 were employed. In July 2019, the civilian labor force was about 342,000 with almost 334,000 employed.
From a year ago, the number of people working in Vermont has decreased almost 7%.
In the Barre-Montpelier area, the labor force in July was 25,149 with 23,430 working, resulting in an unemployment rate of 6.8%.The rate in July 2019 was 2.1%.
In Rutland, the labor force in July was 21,108 with 19,053 working, resulting in an unemployment rate of 9.7%. The rate in July 2019 was 2.7%.
The highest unemployment rate in the communities for which the labor department provides specific numbers was Woodstock which had a rate of 12.5%, but only Newbury in that group has a smaller labor force so fluctuations can affect the percentages disproportionately.
The report said 4,800 jobs were added in Vermont in July.
An area designated “arts, entertainment and recreation” added about 300 jobs, or an increase of about 8%, local government added about 1,900 jobs for an increase of almost 7% and the information field added about 200 or an increase of about 5%,.
In private education, about 500 jobs were lost for a decrease of 3.7% and about 400 jobs were lost in construction, also a loss of 3.7%.
Barewicz said April was the worst month for April’s economy and while the three months since then have shown improvement, the “emerging situation” is worse than the last economic crisis in 2007.
See labor.vermont.gov/jobs online for more information about the resources for finding jobs provided by the state.
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