Vt.'s higher jobless rate doesn't include IBM cuts
June's higher Vermont jobless rate doesn't include IBM layoffs
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- Vermont's higher jobless rate for June wasn't supposed to include the 419 people laid off at IBM Corp.'s plants in the state. But a state Labor Department official says there may have been an impact on the 4.4 percent reported rate.
The Labor Department's Mathew Barewicz notes that while the IBM workers were given layoff notices in June, their last day on the payroll was July 12. That means those job losses shouldn't show up until the July unemployment numbers are released in August.
But Barewicz also says the unemployment numbers are collected through a telephone survey of households. And he says some of those responding to the June survey may have been IBM workers who counted themselves as unemployed even though they weren't actually out of work yet.
