News

Fourth Quarter VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey Coming Soon (Mar. 2015)

03.12.2015

Look for the Fourth Quarter 2014 VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey coming out next week.  The Business Conditions Survey is conducted in partnership between the Vermont Business Roundtable and Economic & Policy Resources.  The nine question survey of the 97 members of the Vermont Business Roundtable captures a glimpse of how Vermont business leaders see the state economy.  The survey asks business leaders how their businesses have fared in the recent past and how they view the future.  Sentiments regarding the current and expected business climate and the expected impact on hiring and investing decisions are also surveyed.   Included in the standard survey is a question asking roundtable members for opinions on a current debate in public policy.   Along with providing a snapshot of the Vermont business climate, the survey allows Vermonters to see how these markers change over time.  Look for the VBR-EPR Business Conditions Survey to come out at the end of March.  In the meantime you can see the results of the previous survey at:

http://blog.vtroundtable.org/uncategorized/vbr-epr-release-3rd-qtr-business-conditions-survey-results/

You can watch EPR’s Amanda Wassel talk about the third quarter survey on CCTV channel 17:

http://www.cctv.org/watch-tv/programs/vbrepr-business-conditions-survey-3rd-quarter-2014

BLS Releases February Employment Data (Mar. 2015)

03.06.2015

Unemployment declined to 5.5% in the month of February, with total non-farm employment increasing by 295,000.  This continued the trend of employment gains which have seen employment expand at an average of 288,000 per month for the past three months.  Employment in Construction added 29,000 jobs in February and has added 321,000 jobs over the past 12 months.  The full BLS release is available here:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

BLS Releases December Employment Data (Jan. 2015)

01.09.2015

Unemployment declined 0.2% to 5.6% in the month of December, with total non-farm employment increasing by  252,000.  This caps off a year of consistent job market gains, with total non-farm employment increasing by an average of 246,000 per month in 2014.  Additionally, employment growth in October was revised up from 243,000 to 261,000, while employment gains in November were revised upward from 321,000 to 353,000.  The full BLS release is available here: