Maine jobless rate stays flat at record low in July
Photo / Renee Cordes
Maine employers in hiring mode include Twin Rivers Paper Co. in Madawaska, with this sign on display touting starting salaries and benefits.
Maine’s unemployment rate remained at a record low of 2.4% in July, the fourth straight month at that level and 20th consecutive month below 4%.
However, the number of nonfarm jobs fell by 2,900 to 643,200, with most of the decrease in leisure and hospitality and in construction.
While each of those sectors can be affected by adverse weather, the impact of the heavy summer rains on the job market is not yet clear, the Maine Department of Labor noted in its latest monthly barometer.
The report, released Friday, follows a large upward revision of 3,000 jobs for June, mostly to leisure and hospitality.
From May to July, Maine’s unemployment rate averaged 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 2.6% for the three months through April. Labor force participation and employment-to-population ratios both increased in the latest three-month period, which generally provide a better indication of workforce conditions and reflect revisions for previous months.
Among Maine’s three metropolitan areas, unemployment was below the statewide average in Portland-South Portland and close to the average in Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn.
The private sector work week averaged 33.8 hours, down 0.5% from a year earlier, and hourly earnings averaged $29.97 per hour in July, up 4.4% over a year earlier. Earnings increases were led by a 9.6% gain in manufacturing.
The work week was longest in construction and shortest in leisure and hospitality, while earnings were highest in professional services and lowest in leisure and hospitality.
Among Maine counties, the jobless rate ranged from a low of 2% in Sagadahoc and Hancock to a high of 3.5% in Aroostook and Piscataquis.
The Maine Department of Labor is scheduled to release August data on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
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