FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 24, 2022

Contact: Glenn Mills, 207-621-5192

**The Employment Situation in Maine - February 2023**

Nonfarm wage and salary jobs and the unemployment rate changed little for the third consecutive month in February, following small revisions of previous month estimates. Each measure remained near record levels.

This news release presents estimates derived from two monthly surveys. The Current Population Survey collects information from households on labor force status, including labor force participation, employment, and unemployment. The Current Employment Statistics survey collects information from nonfarm employers by industry on the number of jobs, hours worked, and wages paid to individuals on their payrolls. Both surveys are administered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

**Statewide Seasonally Adjusted Labor Force Estimates**

The 2.8 percent unemployment rate changed little from 2.9 percent for January. The rate has been below four percent for 15 consecutive months, the fourth longest period on record. Labor force participation and employment to population ratios also were little changed in the month.

Three-month averages generally provide a better indication of workforce conditions as they smooth some of the variability in sample-based estimates and they reflect revisions for previous months. The 2.9 percent average unemployment rate for December to February was down slightly from 3.1 percent for the three months through November. In that period average labor force participation and employment rates were little changed.

The unemployment rate for Maine was below U.S. and New England 3.6 and 3.5 percent rates for February.

**Statewide Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Jobs Estimates**

Total nonfarm wage and salary jobs changed little in February. The 646,800 jobs were 100 higher than the January estimate, which was revised somewhat lower. The change in jobs was small in nearly all sectors. The most notable over the month change was a decrease of 400 jobs in leisure and hospitality, which now has the second most jobs in the last three years, following the January high.

In the three months through February the number of jobs increased an average of 1,400 per month over the three months through November. The three-month average was 1.5 percentage points higher than the average for calendar year 2019, before the pandemic. Private sector jobs were 1.9 percent higher and government jobs were 0.7 percent lower, mostly in public higher education.

**County and Metro Area Not Seasonally Adjusted Labor Force Estimates**

On a not seasonally-adjusted basis the statewide unemployment rate was 3.1 percent. Of the 16 counties, rates were at least 0.3 percentage points higher than that in nine counties, at least 0.3 points lower than that in three, and close to the average in four. The lowest unemployment rate was in Cumberland County and the highest was in Washington County.

Among the three metro areas of the state, unemployment was below the statewide average in Portland-S. Portland (2.3 percent) and close to the average in Bangor (2.7 percent) and Lewiston-Auburn (3.1 percent).

(For substate areas, labor force estimates, including unemployment rates, are not seasonally adjusted. Because of this, estimates for a certain month should be compared to the same month in other years and should not be compared to other months.)

**Statewide and Metro Area Not Seasonally Adjusted Hours and Earnings Estimates**

The private sector workweek averaged 33.5 hours and earnings averaged $29.84 per hour in February. Hourly earnings increased 3.3 percent from a year earlier, led by a 6.9 percent gain in manufacturing. The workweek was longest in manufacturing and shortest in leisure and hospitality. Earnings were highest in professional and business services and lowest in leisure and hospitality.

Hourly earnings were higher than the statewide average in the Portland-S. Portland metro and lower in Bangor and Lewiston-Auburn.

- This news release is available in a more accessible format - https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/news/release.html - March workforce estimates will be released Friday, April 21 at 10 a.m. The data release schedule - https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/releaseDates.html - Nonfarm jobs data is available - https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/ces.html - Unemployment and labor force data is available - https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/laus.html

**NOTES:**

1. Preliminary seasonally-adjusted labor force estimates, including rates (labor force participation, employment, and unemployment rates), and levels (labor force, employed, and unemployed), as well as nonfarm wage and salary job estimates are inexact. Annual revisions (published in March each year) add accuracy. A comparison of 2021 and 2022 revised and previously published estimates is available - https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/blogs/2023_workforce_data_revisions.pdf . 2. The 90 percent confidence interval for the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February was between 2.0 and 3.6 percent. 3. Nonfarm wage and salary jobs from the payroll survey provide a better indication of changes in employment than resident employment from the household survey. The payroll survey is larger and has smaller margins of error. 4. Nonfarm payroll jobs estimates tend to be variable from month to month because the representativeness of reporting employers can differ. Seasonal adjustment is imperfect because weather, the beginning and ending of school semesters, and other events do not always occur with the same timing relative to the pay period that includes the 12th day of the month, which is the survey reference period. This sometimes exacerbates monthly changes in jobs estimates. Users should look to the trend over multiple months rather than the change from one specific month to another. Jobs estimates for the period from April 2022 to September 2023 will be replaced with payroll data in March 2024. Those benchmark revisions usually show less monthly variability than preliminary estimates do.