PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s jobless rate rose slightly in June, to 3.7 percent, as the estimate of people working or in the market for a job rose for the fourth straight month.
The latest estimate of Maine’s unemployment rate is down from 4.4 percent one year ago and marks a continuing turnaround of estimates that since the fall of 2013 showed Maine’s total employment and workforce as dwindling.
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Maine’s jobless rate was below the regional average of 4.4 percent, coming in lower than Massachusetts (4.2 percent), Rhode Island (5.5 percent) and Connecticut (5.8 percent). The rate was higher than New Hampshire (2.8 percent) and Vermont (3.2 percent) for June.
The national unemployment rate dropped rose to 4.9 percent in June, up from 4.7 percent in May and down from 5.3 percent one year ago.
A separate survey of employer payrolls estimated that Maine had 4,000 more jobs than one year ago, up to 615,100 in June. Private sector jobs made up all of those gains, with an estimated 6,000 more positions compared with one year ago.
Government payroll jobs were down by about 2,000 positions, to 97,800, which the Maine Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information reported is the lowest level since 2000.