Statement from the Symington Campaign on VT Job Growth Statistics

Statement from the Symington Campaign on VT Job Growth Statistics:

There are reports tonight that the Douglas administration is claiming that our statement that Vermont has the slowest job growth in New England is "flat wrong." The reports did not include any basis for the Douglas  charge, so we don't know exactly what the administration is objecting to, or what contrary numbers they are citing.

That said, we wanted to explain what we based our statement on.  We are basing that statement on a report on 2007 Economic Indicators that the Federal Reserve issued in May of this year.  

As you will see in the text of the Federal Reserve report below, Vermont's job growth number was 0.1 % while New England's was 0.7%.  Of the New England state's that showed any net gain in jobs (which was all states except one) Vermont had the slowest rate of growth at 0.1 percent.  Rhode Island actually lost jobs (they were at - 1.0%).  The question is, do you include a state that lost jobs in a comparison about job growth? 

If you look at it one way, you can says VT had the slowest rate of growth in New England.  Looking at it another way, VT had the 2nd worst performance on job creation because Rhode Island lost jobs overall.  Either way, a 0.1 percent rate of job growth is a very bad performance, and it is having a big impact on Vermonters.  Last week's news that home foreclosures jumped 65% in Vermont in the last 12 months is largely due to job losses and the inability of Vermonters to find good paying jobs - and that's according to an administration official.

The Federal Reserve also says Vermont's overall economy "lagged its New England brethren" and was the only state to have a decline in exports. 

If you have questions please call Michael Carrese at 760-8832

Thank You

The following comes directly from the Federal Reserve Report:

Vermont

• Job loss in the construction and manufacturing

industries slowed Vermont's overall job growth.

• Vermont was the only New England state to

experience a decline in exports.

• With falling housing prices, declining home

sales, a drop in housing permits, and a significant

decrease in the average value of residential

construction contracts, the housing crisis

appears to be taking hold of the state's real

estate market.

Vermont's economy continued to cool for the

third straight year. With only slight employment

growth and declining exports, and the subprime

mortgage crisis softening the real estate market in

2007, Vermont lagged its New England brethren.

Vermont's labor market continued to soften in

2007, adding just 300 jobs, an increase of 0.1 percent.

Besting only Rhode Island's performance,

the Green Mountain State lagged job growth

regionally (0.7 percent) and nationally (0.8 percent).

The construction industry saw the largest drop in 

employment, losing 800 jobs (a 4.6 percent decrease).

Manufacturing continued to decline rapidly,

shedding 600 jobs (1.7 percent) in 2007 after losing

800 jobs (2.2 percent) in 2006. Retail trade

also experienced a modest decline of nearly 1

percent, or 400 jobs.