AUGUSTA (AP) – Maine’s unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage point in May to 5 percent as the increase in people seeking work outweighed a gain in total employment, the Baldacci administration said Friday.
May’s 5 percent jobless rate compares to the state’s 4.4 percent rate a year earlier, state Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said. The national rate for May 2005 was 5.1 percent.
“Unemployment also increased over the year as an influx of jobseekers exceeded employment gains,” Fortman said.
The figures are adjusted to reflect seasonal fluctuations in the labor market.
During the past year, the largest numbers of job gains were recorded in health care and social assistance, retail trade, leisure and hospitality services, and construction.
In other New England states, Vermont recorded a 3.1 percent seasonally adjusted rate in May. New Hampshire’s rate was 3.6 percent; Rhode Island 4.5 percent; Massachusetts 4.8 percent and Connecticut 5.3 percent.
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