Maine unemployment rate rises to 3.1% in August
Photo / Renee Cordes
Sign of the times: Maine's workforce shortage is affecting retail stores everywhere, like this coffee shop in Belfast during the height of the summer tourist season.
Maine's unemployment rate rose to 3.1% in August from 2.8% in July, registering its first month-on-month increase since June 2021, according to the latest data from the Maine Department of Labor.
The rate remains close to the 3.0% average for the past three months.
Total non-farm wage and salary jobs were little changed in August, up 100 to 636,200, following a small upward revision to the July estimate.
The number of jobs overall is little changed since May. Jobs in local government, mainly in education, saw the sharpest decline in August, while jobs in retail and leisure and hospitality increased the most.
Among Maine’s three metro areas, unemployment was below the statewide average in Portland/South Portland at 2.5%, and close to the average in Bangor (2.9%) and Lewiston-Auburn (3.1%).
Across Maine, unemployment ranged from 2.5% in Cumberland, Sagadahoc and York counties, to a rate of 4.3% in Washington County. according to data that was not adjusted for seasonal factors.
Maine's August unemployment rate is below the 3.7% U.S. rate and 3.4% in New England for the same month.
The Maine Department of Labor is scheduled to release September statistics on Friday, Oct. 21.
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