The August unemployment rate in Maine increased to 4.0%, which is 0.1% above July’s rate of 3.9%, according to a preliminary report released by Maine’s Department of Labor.
It still compares well to August 2015, when the department reported a rate of 4.3%.
Maine’s unemployment rate in August was below the New England average of 4.2%. New Hampshire reported an unemployment rate of 3.0%, Vermont 3.3% and Massachusetts 3.9%, according to the preliminary report.
Nationally, the U.S. preliminary unemployment rate of 4.9% in August was unchanged from July and down from 5.1% from the same month last year.
