AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s $1 billion-plus budget gap may not be that big after all. Revised revenue estimates that won forecasters’ blessing in Augusta on Tuesday point to a shortfall that could be roughly half that size. The Revenue Forecasting Committee endorsed figures that lower the shortfall through the next two-year budget cycle by […]

Starting next year, the Maine Department of Labor is raising unemployment insurance premiums to replenish the state’s unemployment coffers, which have been strained by increased unemployment claims from out-of-work job seekers. The agency said Monday that annual premiums for businesses will increase between roughly $10 and $90 per employee when the increase takes effect Jan. […]

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A price-watching website says average retail gasoline prices in Maine have risen 6.2 cents per gallon in the past week to an average of $2.98 per gallon. MaineGasPrices.com said Monday that Maine’s latest average price compares with the national average, which has increased 3.1 cents per gallon in the last week […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A surge in auto purchases helped lift retail sales in October by the largest amount in seven months. But excluding autos, retail sales rose more modestly. October marked the fourth straight increase in retail sales after declines in May and June. Those drops had raised fears about the economic recovery. Still, economists […]

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A price-monitoring website says average retail gasoline prices in Maine have fallen 0.2 cent per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.88 per gallon. MaineGasPrices.com says Sunday’s price compares with the national average, which has fallen 0.7 cent per gallon in the last week to $2.80. The website says that including […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The job market and the economy will improve only slightly next year, according to an Associated Press survey of leading economists whose outlook for 2011 has dimmed over the past three months. The latest quarterly AP Economy Survey shows economists are pushing back their estimates of when key barometers of economic health […]