Vermont Loses 900 Jobs as Labor Force Participation Falls to 62.7% in April

1 articles · Updated · vnews.com · Jun 2

April payrolls in Vermont fell by 900 jobs, a 0.3% monthly drop and the state's steepest decline so far in 2026.
The labor force participation rate slipped 0.2 percentage point to 62.7%, reinforcing signs of weaker employment even as the unemployment rate held near 2.6%.
State labor officials linked the decline to an aging workforce, population losses after a 2020 in-migration spike, and affordability pressures squeezing household budgets.
Those mixed signals partly reflect different surveys: payroll data tracks employer headcounts, while the unemployment rate comes from resident responses and includes self-employed workers.
Vermont's jobless rate still sits well below the 4.3% national average, but officials said May data will be needed to judge whether April marked a broader slowdown.

Sources

Left100%

With low unemployment but a shrinking workforce, is Vermont's economy secretly in crisis?

As high costs and an aging population shrink its labor pool, can Vermont still attract new workers?