Maine Unemployment Rate 6.8 Percent in June

July 18, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 18, 2013
Contact: Glenn Mills 207-621-5192

State Labor Commissioner Jeanne Paquette released June workforce estimates for Maine.

Seasonally Adjusted Statewide Data

Survey of Households - The preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate estimate for Maine was 6.8 percent in June, unchanged from May and down from 7.3 percent one year ago. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated 48,500 were unemployed, down 3,300 over the year. The unemployment rate was the lowest since November 2008.

June was the 69th consecutive month Maine had a higher share of employed population than the nation ? 60.9 percent compared to 58.6 percent.

The U.S. unemployment rate was estimated at 7.6 percent, unchanged from May and down from 8.2 percent one year ago. The New England unemployment rate was 7.1 percent; estimates for other states were 5.2 percent in New Hampshire, 4.4 percent in Vermont, 7.0 percent in Massachusetts, 8.9 percent in Rhode Island, and 8.1 percent in Connecticut.

(NOTE: Preliminary unemployment rate estimates tend to move in a direction for several months and then the opposite direction for several months. This pattern often reflects an estimating methodology rather than improvement or deterioration in conditions. Annual revisions to labor force estimates that will be published in March 2014 are likely to remove those directional trends.)

Survey of Employer Payrolls ? Preliminary estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate there were 601,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in June, up 1,300 from the revised May estimate. The estimate of U.S. nonfarm payroll jobs was up 195,000.

(NOTE: Nonfarm payroll jobs estimates tend to be volatile from month to month. Estimates for the period from October 2012 to September 2013 will be replaced with actual payroll data in March 2014. The revised job count is likely to show less volatility than monthly estimates.)

Not Seasonally Adjusted Substate Data

The not seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate was 6.8 percent in June, down from 7.1 percent one year ago. Not seasonally adjusted rates ranged from 5.6 percent in Cumberland County to 9.9 percent in Washington County. Rates tended to be lower than the statewide average in southern and central counties and higher than average in northern and rim counties. Among metro areas the unemployment rate was below the statewide average in Portland-South Portland-Biddeford (5.7 percent) and close to the statewide average in Bangor (6.9 percent) and Lewiston-Auburn (6.9 percent).

This release is available at http://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/news/release.html. Detailed labor force and unemployment data for the state, counties, and 31 labor market areas; nonfarm jobs data for the state and the three metropolitan areas; and much more is available at http://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/data.html.

July data will be released Monday, August 19.

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