By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger.org
The state’s unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 percent in February, marking its lowest rate since May 2007.
The lowest unemployment rates were 3.0 percent and 3.3 percent in the Burlington-South Burlington and White River Junction areas, respectively. The highest unemployment rates were in Derby and St. Johnsbury, at 7.7 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively (unadjusted for seasonal trends).
According to the Labor Department, the number of people in the civilian workforce dropped by 300 from January.
Annie Noonan, commissioner of the state DOL, said that February was the ninth consecutive month that unemployment rates have been better in Vermont than when they peaked before the2007-2009 recession. Noonan called the data “signs of better economic conditions in certain regions of the state.”
