Maine’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January is 3 percent, down from 3.1 percent in December and 3.4 percent in January 2017.
The number of unemployed job-seekers in Maine declined by 2,500 over the past year to 21,000, according to a report issued Monday by the state Department of Labor.
Maine’s unemployment rate has been below 4 percent for 26 consecutive months, the longest period since the current method of measuring the rate was implemented in 1976, the department said. The previous record was 22 months, from 1999 to 2001.
Nationally, unemployment has been below 4 percent during just five months, all in 2000.
The preliminary U.S. unemployment rate of 4.1 percent for January was unchanged from December and down from 4.8 percent a year earlier. The New England average for January was 3.7 percent.
January unemployment estimates for other states in the region were 2.6 percent in New Hampshire, 2.9 percent in Vermont, 3.5 percent in Massachusetts, 4.5 percent in Rhode Island and 4.5 percent in Connecticut, the department said.
The January employment-to-population ratio estimate of 61.5 percent in Maine remained above the 60.1 percent U.S. average, it said.
J. Craig Anderson can be contacted at 791-6390 or at:
Twitter: @jcraiganderson
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