Vermont Labor Force StatisticsSeasonally Adjusted There were 2,065 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, as claims spiked over the holidays, from what was a relatively high level. New claims increased 376 from the week before but are still below last year’s total.Altogether 9,866 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 1,116 from a week ago but 3,390 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 1,556 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), one more than a week ago. In addition, there were 634 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is 8 fewer than the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/(link is external). Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc(link is external) Vermont’s unemployment rate fell three-tenths to 5.3 percent in November. See story HERE. Total Labor Force363,200362,800360,8004002,400 Employment344,100342,400339,8001,7004,300 Unemployment19,10020,30021,000-1,200-1,900 Rate5.3%5.6%5.8%-0.3-0.5 November 2011 October 2011 November 2010 October 2011 November 2010 Change to November 2011 from 