Maine’s unemployment rate rose again slightly in October to 3.4 percent.
It was the 35th-consecutive month that unemployment was below 4 percent, the longest such streak on record, according to the Maine Department of Labor.
“How low we can go is an interesting question,” state labor economist Glenn Mills said. “We’re going to find out I’m sure, but it would be very difficult to go much lower than this.”
Mills said there are both positives and negatives to such a low unemployment rate. He said the good part is that there are jobs for people and that wages have seen a healthy increase.
“Over the last four years we’ve had fastest wage growth adjusted for inflation that we’ve seen in nearly 2 decades,” Mills said. “The flip side of that is many employers say they’re very challenged to find the staff they need.”
He said number of people in Maine either working or looking for work has bounced back from the recession.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.