Vermont’s economy is slowly emerging from the 2008 economic recession, the state’s Legislative Economist said Wednesday.
Tom Kavet said an especially active fall tourism season brought in $2 million more than the state expected in meals and rooms taxes.
The housing market, another indicator of economic recovery, is improving slowly, Kavet said.
"Residential construction in Vermont is at its highest level in September in five years, so that sounds like good news. You’ll hear a lot of stats like that about what’s happening in real estate markets: ‘Oh sales are way up and everything’s way up.’ Yeah, it’s way up but look where it started," Kavet said.
Kavet told lawmakers that almost every indicator is on the rise, but nothing is rising fast.
He said the 2008 recession has had one of the longest-lasting impacts of any economic downturn in the past century.
