Maine’s economy staged a strong rebound over the summer.
The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that the state’s economic output, as measured by gross domestic product, rose at a 37.3 percent annual rate during the July-to-September quarter. Maine’s economic output fell at a 34 percent rate in the April-to-June quarter, the result of state-ordered shutdowns due to the pandemic.
The sectors of the economy that staged the biggest rebounds in the third quarter were “health care and social assistance” and “accommodation and food services.” Both areas had slowed severely in the second quarter.
There are signs that Maine’s economy, like the nation’s, is slowing again. Since the end of September, the number of weekly first-time claims for unemployment benefits has doubled, from about 1,500 at the end of September to 3,000 earlier this month.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.