MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont’s unemployment rate continued to creep downward in April, registering at 3.3 percent, the second-lowest in the country, state labor officials said Friday.
The seasonally-adjusted rate compared to a national average unemployment rate of 6.3 percent, nearly double Vermont’s. Vermont’s rate had dropped by a tenth of a point from March while the national rate dropped by four-tenths of a percentage point.
Vermont’s rate was second-lowest in the country, behind North Dakota, which is in the midst of an oil boom.
Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan said the monthly data for April captures the typical seasonal volatility for this time of year.
“After a successful winter season for ski areas and leisure and hospitality businesses, these seasonal jobs are declining just as the summer jobs will increase around Memorial Day,” she said.
She said her department is working to help Vermont employers fill vacancies. She urged recent graduates, people who have been laid off, and people who are looking to change jobs to contact their nearest Department of Labor office.
Around the state, unemployment rates for April ranged from a low of 2.5 percent in Hartford to a high of 6 percent in Newport.
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