Vermont unemployment rate drops to 3.4 percent

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- The Vermont Department of Labor says the state's unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percent last month to 3.4 percent, the fourth lowest unemployment rate in the country.

Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan says Vermont is growing private sector jobs and people are finding work.

She says a goal for her department now is helping employers find workers. Still, the department needs to ensure people are "career-ready."

The 3.4 percent unemployment rate is down from 3.7 percent in February and compares with a rate of 4.2 percent in March 2013.

Unemployment in the state's 17 labor markets ranged from a low of 2.4 percent in Warren-Waitsfield to 6.6 percent in Newport.