Maine’s unemployment rate for November was 2.8 percent, marking a record 47th consecutive month the state has had a jobless rate below 4 percent.
The preliminary rate is unchanged from October, and down from 3.5 percent for the same period a year ago, according to a news release from the Maine Department of Labor. The number of unemployed Mainers is down 5,000 over the year to 19,400. Nationally, the November unemployment rate was 3.5 percent.
So far this year, the number of nonfarm, private sector jobs in Maine has risen to 533,000, up 5,300 over last year, with the greatest gains in leisure and hospitality, retail, manufacturing and construction. The estimate of 100,200 government jobs has not changed significantly over the past five years and represents 15.8 percent of all jobs, the lowest rate on record, the Maine Department of Labor said.
Other New England states are also seeing little change in what has become an exceptionally tight regional labor market. November jobless rates were 2.6 percent in New Hampshire, 2.3 percent in Vermont, 2.9 percent in Massachusetts, 3.5 percent in Rhode Island, and 3.7 percent in Connecticut.
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