Economic Development Plan
General Economic Data and Trends

All data in this section comes from the Vermont Department of Employment & Training’s (DET) Labor Market Information unless otherwise noted. Additional data is presented in other sections that follow as it relates to those specific sections.

Labor Force and Unemployment

The greater Burlington region has seen significant growth in its labor force over the last twelve years. The City’s labor force has also continued to grow. The most recent annual unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) for the region (3.0%) and the city (3.2%) are lower than state (3.7%) and national (5.8%) figures for that same period. While local unemployment rates remain lower than state and national rates, the local economy also reflects broader trends. The national and state economies are currently emerging from a recession. In 2002, according to the most recent Allen & Brooks Report, Chittenden County lost over 1,700 jobs – including 1,200 jobs at the state’s largest employer, IBM. Offsetting these job losses has been a net increase in the number of jobs created both regionally and in Burlington.

Noting the chart above, through the same period in which over 2000 additional Burlington citizens entered the workforce, Burlington’s population remained steady.

Job Growth

The City of Burlington 2002 average annual employment (jobs within the City) was 31,424. This represents a 2000 job increase since 1992, a ten-year period. In Vermont towns with employment levels over 10,000, Burlington stands alone as the only municipality showing an increase in new jobs in 2002 over 2001 and as one of two showing an increase the following year.

Towns With Employment Levels Over 10,000

In Chittenden County, Burlington is the largest job center, with almost one-third of the county’s total 95,284 jobs in 2000.[2] From 1990 to 2000, Chittenden County added 17,736 jobs. The regional economy (in a six-county area) is expected to add 44,250 jobs over the 2000-2010 period. (Housing in Northwest Vermont: A Review of Demand and Supply of Housing in the Six County Region, Economic Policy Resources, August 2000).

The greatest job growth in both Burlington and in the county overall has been in the services sector. While manufacturing jobs in the city reached a low in 1992, employment in that sector has remained relatively constant since that time.

    * Manufacturing sector numbers suppressed

Commuting

As of the time of the 2000 Census, a relatively high proportion – 53.5% - of Burlington residents were working within the City. That number is higher than other municipalities in the County. It does represent a decline, however, of 5% from the 1990 Census. Subtracting the number of Burlington residents who work in the City from the total number of jobs in the City, there are roughly 20,000 people who commute into the City to work.

You can also view this information in table format.

Employment by Industry and by Gender

Within the services sector, the largest number of City residents – and the largest number of women - are employed in the educational and health care/social assistance services industries. Industry wage averages put education services in the lower third of annual wages and health care/social assistance services in the upper third. Because those industries – and particularly health care/social assistance - include a wide variation of wages, however, the industry average wage does not give a good picture of the actual earnings of individual workers.

You can also view this information in table format.

Employment by Company Size

IBM continues to be the largest employer both regionally and in the state. In Burlington, Fletcher Allen Health Care and the University of Vermont are by far the largest employers:

Over half the jobs in Chittenden County are provided by companies which employ less than 100 people:

You can also view this information in table format.

In Burlington, the numbers and percentages of the self-employed continue to rise: