Vermont unemployment rate drops slightly to 3 percent

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont Department of Labor says the state’s unemployment rate inched down last month to 3 percent.

That’s a drop of one-tenth of a percentage point from January and compares to a national jobless rate of 4.7 percent in February.

Statewide, Vermont’s unemployment rate ranged from a low of 2.4 percent in the Burlington-South Burlington area to a high of 7.1 percent in Derby.

Labor Commissioner Lindsay Kurrle says for the seventh consecutive year, the state’s employers reported a greater number of jobs in the economy compared to the previous year. She says the state has also seen a decline in the number of unemployed Vermonters during the same time.