This report compares Vermont's experience with two federally funded programs aimed at reducing unemployment. The first was a Special Work Project (SWP) directed toward providing work experience rather than skill training for welfare recipients, and also for low-income families. A second approach was through the Public Employment Program (PEP). This latter program was created to subsidize jobs for the temporarily unemployed when the general U. S. economy could not absorb these people. Eligibility and wage subsidization for each program differed. The SWP program was oriented toward the working poor and those with multiple nonjob related personal problems. Participants in PEP were usually the recently unemployed. Each program could underwrite up to 90 percent of the client's salary. Subsidized wages paid for each PEP slot averaged $7,000 annually, while $4,000 was spent under SWP. (Also included are four appendixes, a list of 20 tables, and a seven-item bibliography.) (Author)