Maine’s unemployment rate of 3.7 percent ticked up slightly in June, compared with May’s 3.5 percent, but is still well below June 2015’s rate.
In June of last year, the unemployment rate, which measures people who are unemployed as a percent of the labor force, was 4.4 percent, according to the Maine Department of Labor, which released June workforce estimates Friday.
The Maine data reflect national trends. The U.S. preliminary unemployment rate of 4.9 percent was up slightly from 4.7 percent in May and down from 5.3 percent one year ago.
Unemployment remained low in other New England states as well, averaging 4.4 percent. Rates for other states were 2.8 percent in New Hampshire, 3.2 percent in Vermont, 4.2 percent in Massachusetts, 5.5 percent in Rhode Island and 5.8 percent in Connecticut.
Economists generally consider a state at full employment when it consistently maintains an unemployment rate below 4 percent. Maine’s rate has been below 4 percent since December 2015.
County rates ranged from 3.0 percent in Cumberland, Knox and Sagadahoc to 5.3 percent in Aroostook.
The unemployment rate was below the statewide average in the Portland-South Portland (3.0 percent) and close to the average in the Lewiston-Auburn (3.5 percent), while Bangor came in at 3.8 percent.
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