Vermont unemployment rate falls to 2.9 percent
The Vermont seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate fell again and at 2.9 percent in March is back under 3 percent for the first time since just before the pandemic hit in early 2020. The rate reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate of 3.0 percent. Vermont now is tied for the lowest rate in the nation with three Western states. There are still over 28,000 filing unemployment claims in Vermont. While this about a third the number of filers from the peak of the pandemic, it is still historically high. Ongoing claims typically would be under 6,000. The pandemic numbers also include new programs like the PUA, which in recent weeks has accounted for almost 9,000 claims.
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BRATTLEBORO â Vermont Attorney General T. J. Donovan has filed a legal brief in support of former employees of Vermont Bread Co., who have gone to court to force the companyâs receiver to pay wages and benefits the workers say they were owed when the company abruptly closed last month.
Former workers at Vermont Bread Co. in Brattleboro and Koffee Kup Bakery in Burlington were left jobless on April 26 when American Industrial Acquisition Corporation, the company that purchased the bakeries on April 1, shut the doors. Workers at locations in Brattleboro, Burlington, and North Grosvenor Dale, Conn., arrived for work that morning to find their jobs had vanished.
Don t miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
BRATTLEBORO â Vermont Attorney General T. J. Donovan has filed a legal brief in support of former employees of Vermont Bread Co., who have gone to court to force the companyâs receiver to pay wages and benefits the workers say they were owed when the company abruptly closed last month.
Former workers at Vermont Bread Co. in Brattleboro and Koffee Kup Bakery in Burlington were left jobless on April 26 when American Industrial Acquisition Corporation, the company that purchased the bakeries on April 1, shut the doors. Workers at locations in Brattleboro, Burlington, and North Grosvenor Dale, Conn., arrived for work that morning to find their jobs had vanished.
Koffee Kup Bakery abruptly closes, laying off 500 workers; Lawsuit filed against company
Updated May 05, 2021;
Koffee Kup Bakery shuttered its doors last month with little notice.
The Vermont-based wholesale bakery that delivers to stores in the Northeast said the company suffered mounting financial problems, prompting the closure.
“For each of the last four years, Koffee Kup has suffered substantial financial losses and was unable to find a way out of their troubles,” the company said in a statement. “Employees, lenders, suppliers and customers all went above and beyond to support Koffee Kup during that time. In the last 6 months, the company was unable to find a new investor/operator who was willing to commit the resources necessary to bring the company back to health.”
Vermont breadmaker, baker Koffee Kup abruptly closes, lays off 250 employees
The Koffee Kup Bakery in Burlington, seen on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, abruptly laid off most of its employees and shuttered the plant. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Modified: 4/27/2021 9:42:27 PM
Vermont-based Koffee Kup Bakery closed its doors without plans to reopen on Monday, leaving hundreds of employees out of work.
According to a notice filed with the state Department of Labor, 247 employees lost their jobs. Of those, 156 worked at the company’s Burlington location and 91 worked at a Brattleboro subsidiary, the Vermont Bread Co.
“The department has already started the process of reaching out to the company in an effort to provide job loss services around unemployment insurance and re-employment efforts to those employees that were impacted,” said Kyle Thweatt, a spokesperson for the Department of Labor.