File photo / Courtesy, Hartford Business Journal
Maine's unemployment rate decreased very slightly in February.
March 25, 2022
A flat February for Maine’s unemployment rate
By Staff
Maine’s unemployment rate changed little in February, edging down to 4% from 4.1% in January. Jobs increased in areas such as health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality, and construction, the state Department of Labor said Friday.
Total nonfarm wage and salary jobs increased by 3,200 in February. Jobs increased by an average of 7,600 in the three months from December to February over the prior three-month period through November.
The 59.3% labor force participation rate and the 56.9% employment-to-population ratio also were little changed in the month, according to the DOL.
The U.S. and New England unemployment rates for February were 3.8% and 4.3%, respectively.
Total nonfarm wage and salary jobs increased 3,200 in February to 634,800. The largest job gains were in health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality, and construction.
The three-month average of jobs through February increased 7,600 from the three-month period through November. Nearly half of the gain in that period was in leisure and hospitality, and one quarter was in the combination of retail trade and state and local government.
The government jobs were primarily K-12 and higher education, as those sectors continue to recover from some of the sharpest job losses at the beginning of the pandemic, the state said.
Unemployment rates were at least 0.3% than the not-seasonally adjusted statewide average of 4.2% in 10 Maine counties, at least 0.3% lower in four counties, and close to the average in two counties. Unemployment rates ranged from a low of 3% in Cumberland County to a high of 7.3% in Washington County.
Among the three metro areas of the state, unemployment was below the statewide average in Portland-South Portland, at 3.3%, and in the Bangor area, at 3.7%, and close to the average in Lewiston-Auburn, at 4%.
Private sector hours averaged 34 and hourly earnings averaged $28.85 in February. The average work week was longest in manufacturing and shortest in leisure and hospitality. Hourly earnings were highest in professional and business services and lowest in leisure and hospitality.
Private sector average hourly earnings increased 7.7% in the 12 months through February. The leisure and hospitality sector had both the highest rate of increase in hourly earnings and, along with education and health care, the largest increase in hours worked over the year.
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