PAI: More Vermonters are working, and fewer jobs are vacant

VermontBiz Vermont employers have been steadily filling unfilled jobs. It’s been a challenge because of Vermont’s low unemployment rate. At times, there were as many as three job openings for each person looking for work.

Nevertheless, employers have succeeded in finding workers to fill the vacancies. In January 2023, employers had just over 332,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, 7 percent of them unfilled. In April of this year, there were almost 330,000 nonfarm jobs, and the share that were unfilled had dropped to 4.5 percent.

Vermont was among three states with the biggest drop in the job opening rate from March to April—nearly a full percentage point. The state showed the lowest percentage of unfilled jobs in New England in April. Nationally, the job opening rate was 4.8 percent that month.

The number of Vermonters working, including those who are self-employed, increased again in May, reaching 349,647. That was the 49th straight month of employment growth—starting in May 2020, the longest streak in 25 years. Meanwhile, the number of filled nonfarm payroll jobs decreased by 100 in May, to 314,800, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.1 percent.

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