Maine's unemployment rate ticks up, just a little
Maine’s unemployment rate ticked up ever so slightly in December, increasing from 2.8% in November to 2.9%.
But the new level, announced Friday by the Maine Department of Labor, was far below the December 2018 rate of 3.5%. Last month was the 48th consecutive one in which the state’s unemployment rate has remained below 4%.
The number of unemployed Mainers was 19,700, down 4,700 from the number one year ago, the department said in a news release.
According to seasonally adjusted, preliminary data, there were 635,300 nonfarm jobs in December, up 7,400 from one year ago. The private sector accounted for 535,100 of them, with the largest gains in the construction, leisure and hospitality, and retail sectors. The number of government jobs in Maine, 100,200, represented 15.8% of the total, the lowest on record, and has not changed significantly in the last five years.
Unemployment estimates were lowest in Sagadahoc and Cumberland County, at 2.2%, and highest in Somerset County, at 4.5%, according to data that were not seasonally adjusted.
The national unemployment rate was 3.5% in December, unchanged from November and down from 3.9% one year ago. Rates for other New England states were: 3.7% in Connecticut, 2.8% in Massachusetts, 2.6% in New Hampshire, 3.5% in Rhode Island and 2.3% in Vermont.
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