PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s jobless rate rose in September estimates, which the Department of Labor’s top economist said corrects months of favorable unemployment estimates over the last year.
With Election Day two weeks away, the latest report showing Maine’s unemployment rate at 5.8 percent in September, up from 5.6 percent in August, will add fuel to the fires of Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s opponents. The state’s jobless rate was 6.6 percent one year ago, representing about 6,000 more job seekers who were not able to find work.
LePage has previously touted the declining preliminary unemployment estimates as signs of improvements in Maine’s economy. During a debate Monday, he indicated that he cannot as governor create jobs —- outside of government, which has cut its workforce during his tenure — but can create an environment for job gains in the private sector.
According to Glenn Mills, chief economist for the Maine Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information, preliminary monthly unemployment estimates tend to travel in one direction for a few months and then reverse.
“Our analysts advise recent estimates are correction from unusually favorable estimates earlier in the year,” Mills said in a release about the latest figures.
The Center for Workforce Research and Information illustrated that trend in a chart Tuesday, showing how the latest preliminary estimates compare with later revisions of unemployment rates that incorporate more data.
The revised unemployment estimates declined steadily in Maine through December 2013, in line with a national decrease in the jobless rate.
LePage responded to the latest unemployment figures Tuesday, pointing to other metrics such as a 20 percent drop in initial unemployment insurance claims for the most recent week as a sign that the economy is improving.
“We are continuing to see signs of economic improvement,” LePage said.
Another measure of the state’s labor market, the percentage of Maine’s total population that is employed, dipped again in September estimates to 60.9 percent, remaining above the national average of 59 percent.
For September, the national unemployment rate was estimated at 5.9 percent, down from 6.1 percent in August and 7.2 percent one year ago. For New England, Maine’s estimated unemployment rate ranked below the regional average of 6 percent. Maine’s rate was higher than New Hampshire (4.3 percent) and Vermont (4.4 percent) and lower than Massachusetts (6 percent), Connecticut (6.4 percent) and Rhode Island (7.6 percent).