Some of Vermont’s business leaders expect more layoffs in the coming months.
About 40 percent of the companies participating in a Vermont Business Roundtable survey released Wednesday say they expect to cut jobs in the next six months and say hiring prospects are dim.
Vermont’s unemployment rate has reached 7 percent, its highest level since April 1992.
23 percent of CEOs at the state’s top employers anticipate increasing staff and 12 percent plan to buy equipment in the next six months.
The survey shows that CEOs are more pessimistic about spending than they were three months ago. Now 50 percent expect purchasing to drop in the next six months, up 10 percent from the last quarter of last year.