For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Contact: Brittney Wilson
Brittney@PhilScott.org
New Economic Data Highlights Continued Impacts of Crisis of Affordability
Middlesex, Vt. – Phil Scott for Vermont campaign coordinator Brittney Wilson issued the following statement on revised job growth and workforce data from the Vermont Department of Labor:
Phil understands the need for a stronger, more diverse economy that keeps and attracts working-age families, employers and innovative entrepreneurs.
Phil’s plan for economic growth is focused on addressing the crisis of affordability confronting many families and businesses, containing the cost of living and doing business in Vermont and creating a budget Vermonters can afford.
He’ll foster a political environment that brings predictability and stability to working families and businesses. An environment without the constant threat of additional taxes will keep and attract the employers we need to build a strong economy.
When Phil is Governor, all agencies and departments within state government will work together to keep current employers in state and attract new employers and innovators. Governor Scott will fuel job growth through targeted investments like tax incentives, and recruiting young talent with policies that give Vermont a competitive edge, like truly affordable housing.
It has never been more important for Vermont to have leadership that works.
Just this month, the Vermont Department of Labor revised its job and unemployment rate estimates for 2014 and 2015. The latest numbers show our workforce is declining faster and more steeply than previously reported.
Key takeaways from the revised data include:
Our workforce – the people who pay taxes, buy homes and put kids in our schools – continues to shrink, declining by 2,851 in 2015.
Vermont saw very low job growth in 2015, and more workers left the workforce than Vermont added jobs.
The jobs created in 2015 were added in the last three months of the year. That means these bleak numbers could still overestimate the year’s actual job growth, according to UVM Associate Professor Art Woolf’s analysis for the Burlington Free Press.
Even as the workforce gets smaller, the Legislature continues to spend beyond that state’s ability to pay, which means the tax burden each remaining worker has to carry gets bigger and bigger.
As Governor, Phil Scott will not hide behind an artificially low unemployment rate. To address weak job growth and a shrinking workforce, he will roll up his sleeves and work every day to make Vermont more affordable for working families and businesses.
To learn more about Phil’s principles for economic growth, visit www.philscott.org.