Burlington Free Press, September 2021
Vermont is fertile ground for job seekers with more choice among available jobs. For employers, however, that means the Green Mountain State has the fourth-largest labor shortage, according to a new study. Career Cloud conducted a study utilizing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and job information from Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and CareerBuilder to analyze labor shortages across the U.S.
Vermont was shown to have 1.59 jobs available per unemployed person. That was the fourth highest. The only areas with more jobs available—and the greatest labor shortages—were New Hampshire, Nebraska, and the District of Columbia, which had the highest rate at 2.37 open jobs per unemployed person.
Vermont also has one of the lowest unemployment rates—the fifth-lowest, in fact, tied with Idaho at 3%. The states with lower rates include New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah and Nebraska, which currently is the lowest at 2.3%. Since unemployment rates reached their zenith during the pandemic shutdown in July 2020, Vermont’s rate recovered 3.4 percentage points by July 2021, putting the state in the middle of the pack for its rebound.
