unemployment

Vermont's unemployment rate jumped to a fifteen year high in September, according to an announcement by the Department of Labor on Tuesday.

The jobless rate in the Green Mountain State rose to 5.2 percent in September, spiking three tenths of a percent from August's 4.9 percent rate. Though still below the national average, the unemployment rate in Vermont has not been this high since June, 1993.

Dino Rossi and state Republicans are pouncing on today's report stating that Washington's unemployment rate has risen to 6.0 percent, up from 5.6 percent in July and 4.5 percent in February, and just slightly below the national unemployment rate of 6.1 percent.

Washington State Republican Party Chair Luke Esser used the news to call Gov. Chris Gregoire "out of touch" for having said that Washington is the "envy of the nation."

Rossi's camp, meanwhile, calls Gregoire's claim that her administration has created more than 200,000 jobs a half truth because the state's unemployment rate is now higher than it was when she took office.

We face dire economic times certainly. But it’s nothing that can’t be fixed by an editor taking a Zoloft or two.