Home → News & Events → The Employment Situation in Maine - August 2026
The Employment Situation in Maine - August 2026 
September 18, 2026
Released: 10 a.m. Friday, September 18, 2026
Contact: Mark McInerney, (207) 620-0197
The 3.2 unemployment rate in August changed little from July. Nonfarm wage and salary jobs have remained within a narrow range for 28 consecutive months.
Seasonally Adjusted Statewide Labor Force Estimates
The 3.2 percent unemployment rate changed little from recent months. Unemployment rates have remained within a narrow range between 3.1 and 3.3 percent for 24 consecutive months. Unemployment has been below 4 percent for 56 months, the longest duration on record. Maine's unemployment rate has been below the U.S. average for more than 18 years, and remains below the long-term average of 5.4 percent for the state since 1976. Unemployment averaged 4.1 percent for New England and 4.1 percent for the U.S. in the month.
The labor force participation rate averaged 58.8 percent over the last three months, lower than during the three months through May. A decreasing employment-to-population ratio in the three months through August is the primary reason for lower rates of labor force participation.
Seasonally Adjusted Statewide Nonfarm Jobs Estimates
Preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates indicate that in August, nonfarm wage and salary jobs were little changed from July. Employment levels were stable in every sector.
Job estimates have stayed within a narrow range near 660,000 for 28 consecutive months (estimates ranging less than 0.5 percent higher or lower each month). Over the last year, job increases in the health care and social assistance, and retail trade sectors were offset by modest decreases across several sectors.
Not Seasonally Adjusted County and Metro Area Labor Force Estimates
On a not seasonally adjusted basis, the statewide unemployment rate was 3.1 percent. Rates were at least 0.3 percentage points higher than that in seven counties, at least 0.3 points lower than that in four, and close to the average in five. Rates were lowest in the coastal counties and highest along the northern rim of the state.
Among the three metro areas, unemployment was below the statewide average in Portland-S. Portland, and close to the average in Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn.
Not Seasonally Adjusted Statewide and Metro Area Hours and Earnings Estimates
The private sector workweek averaged 33.5 hours and earnings averaged $33.77 per hour in August. Average hours changed little, and hourly earnings increased 4.2 percent from one year ago. The workweek was longest in the construction and manufacturing sectors and shortest in the leisure and hospitality sector. Earnings were highest in professional and business services and lowest in leisure and hospitality. Hourly earnings were above the statewide average in Portland-S. Portland and below it in the Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn metros.
September 2026 workforce estimates will be published on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. The complete data release schedule is available here - https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/news-and-publications/news-release/data-release-schedule
Nonfarm jobs data is available here - https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/dashboards/nonfarm-jobs
Unemployment and labor force data is available here - https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/dashboards/unemployment-and-labor-force-estimates
NOTES:
Preliminary unemployment estimates should be considered in the context of whether they are below, near, or above historical or U.S. averages, rather than if they are up or down a few tenths of a point from some other month. The household survey sample they are derived from is large enough for direct estimates for the nation. For states it is much smaller and statistical modeling is used to prevent large single-month changes that may overstate the magnitude or the direction of changes in labor market conditions. Upward or downward changes in preliminary unemployment or labor force participation rates often are not as indicative of improvement or deterioration in conditions as they may appear. Though rates for many months will change when revised, unemployment rates for 2025 and to date in 2026 certainly will remain well below the long-term and national averages.
Preliminary seasonally adjusted labor force estimates, including rates (labor force participation, employment, and unemployment rates), and levels (labor force, employed, and unemployed), as well as nonfarm wage and salary job estimates are inexact. Annual revisions (published in March each year) add accuracy. A comparison of 2025 and 2024 previously published to revised estimates is available in this article.
The 90 percent confidence interval for the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was between 2.5 and 4 percent.
Nonfarm wage and salary jobs from the payroll survey provide a better indication of changes in employment than resident employment from the household survey. The payroll survey is larger and has smaller margins of error.
Nonfarm payroll jobs estimates tend to be variable from month to month because the representativeness of reporting employers can differ. Seasonal adjustment is imperfect because weather, the beginning and ending of school semesters, and other events do not always occur with the same timing relative to the pay period that includes the 12th day of the month, which is the survey reference period. This sometimes exacerbates monthly changes in jobs estimates. Users should look to trends over multiple months rather than change from one specific month to another. Jobs estimates for the period from April 2025 to September 2026 will be replaced with payroll data in March 2027. Those benchmark revisions usually show less monthly variability than previously published estimates.
