Vermont recorded 482 initial regular unemployment insurance claims in the week of Nov. 7, down five from the 487 filed the week before and 69 above the same week last year, according to the state Department of Labor's weekly summary released Nov. 12.
Continued claims for regular benefits were 2,177, up 53 from the prior week and down 167 from the 2,344 filed in the week of Nov. 8, 2025. Total claims across all programs were 2,659, compared with 2,611 a week earlier and 2,757 a year ago. State extended benefits recorded zero claims in each period, according to the summary.
Industries and offices
Construction made up 16 percent of initial claims, up from 10 percent the prior week and 18 percent a year ago. Services were 58 percent, down from 65 percent in each comparison period, and trade was 10 percent, up from 8 percent last week and 3 percent a year ago.
Among American Job Center service areas, continued claims rose most from the prior week in Newport (131, up 30 from 101) and Morrisville (149, up 29 from 120). Newport was still well below the 201 claims a year earlier. Burlington had the most continued claims at 516, down 81 from a year ago.
Trust fund and unemployment rate
The unemployment insurance trust fund held a cash balance of $336,599,187, up $2,639,384 from the prior week and $6,534,542 from a year ago. The report lists a loan balance of $0. Benefit payment figures were not available at the time of release.
The same report lists Vermont's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September at 2.6 percent, unchanged from August and from September 2025. New Hampshire was also 2.6 percent, Maine 3.3 percent, Rhode Island 3.6 percent, Massachusetts 4.3 percent and Connecticut 5.1 percent. The U.S. rate was 4.2 percent.
