Maine’s unemployment rate in May was 5.7 percent, unchanged from April.
The national unemployment rate last month was 6.3 percent.
There were 610,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in Maine, up 9,200 from a year ago, according to the state Department of Labor in a statement. Private sector jobs were up 9,900, primarily in the leisure and hospitality, retail trade, professional and business services, and education and healthcare sectors. Those gains were partially offset by a decline of 700 jobs in government.
The unemployment rate was below the statewide average in the state’s three metropolitan areas: Portland-South Portland-Biddeford (4.6 percent), Lewiston-Auburn (5.5 percent), and Bangor (5.7 percent).
The share of Maine’s population that was employed in May was estimated at 61.6 percent, well above the U.S. average of 58.9 percent.
Maine’s unemployment rate was the same as the average rate of the six New England states. Rates for other states were 4.4 percent in New Hampshire, 3.3 percent in Vermont, 5.6 percent in Massachusetts, 8.2 percent in Rhode Island, and 6.9 percent in Connecticut.
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