Vermont’s statewide unemployment rate dropped .1 percent from November to December. It now stands at 3.6 percent compared to a national average of 5.0 percent.
According to the Vermont Department of Labor, the mild, relatively snowless winter has had an impact on December jobs, particularly in the leisure industry.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, jobs in leisure and hospitality declined by 5.7 percent in December.
“People who had been hired by employers in the leisure and hospitality sector were laid off when the snow didn’t arrive as expected,” said Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan in a news release.
Noonan said the situation is turning around.
The Labor Department says based on preliminary data, the seasonal-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for 2015 is 3.7 percent.
The number of unemployed people in the workforce dropped from 12,650 to 12,250 from November to December.
Vermont’s civilian labor force continued a five-month decline and at 343,000 has reached the lowest level since April, 2002.
The December unemployment rates ranged from 2.3 percent in White River Junction to 5.6 percent in Derby.
