Vermont’s unemployment rate rose for a third consecutive month in January.
The state Department of Labor says the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2007 was four percent, up two-tenths of a percentage point from December.
State officials attribute the increase to construction layoffs and the warm weather in January slowing the start to the winter tourism season.
Patricia Moulton Powden, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor, says three straight months of unemployment rate increases and slower job growth than previously measured are cause for concern.
She says the state also is seeing a faster slowdown in manufacturing than had been previously measured.