Maine’s unemployment rate continues to hover around the 7.5% rate, as it has for the last year, according to the Maine Department of Labor. The preliminary, seasonally adjusted rate was 7.5%, little changed from 7.4% in May and 7.6% one year ago.
The number of unemployed totaled 52,900, down 800 over the year. Labor officials said unemployment rates and job estimates have been somewhat volatile in the last few months related to conflicts between employment estimates and payroll data. Annual revisions are likely to show smoother changes.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.2%, unchanged from May and down from 9.1% one year ago. The unemployment rate for New England was 6.8%; rates in other states were 5.1% in New Hampshire, 4.7% in Vermont, 6.0% in Massachusetts, 8.1% in Connecticut and 10.9% in Rhode Island.