New Hampshire’s unemployment rate in February held steady at 5.8%. That’s according to new data from NH Employment Security. The state has added nearly 8,000 private sector jobs in the past twelve months, but a growing labor force continues to keep the overall unemployment rate well above pre-recession levels.
New Hampshire continues to outperform most of New England. Only Vermont has a lower rate at 4.7%.
The New Hampshire Department of Employment Security says unemployment is slightly up for the month of July.
More than 4,400 jobs were lost between June and July, bringing the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 5.4 percent. That’s an increase of .3 percentage points. The total number of employed residents was just shy of 700,000.
The New Hampshire unemployment rate is still well below the national rate of 8.3 percent, which also went up a tenth of a percent from June.
The New Hampshire Department of Employment security released the latest New Hampshire unemployment figures for today. Unemployment in June ticked up slightly; rising to a seasonally adjusted 5.1%, up from 5.0% in May.It is still down from where it was last June, when it was 5.5 percent.
Employment Security Economist Annette Nielsen says the increase is due to two factors: 5,000 more workers entered the labor force than this time last year, and fewer seasonal jobs were added than expected.
It may not always feel this way, but New Hampshire’s economy is doing better than almost anywhere in the U.S. The state’s 5 percent unemployment rate is lower than all but five other states. However, some parts of the state are doing better than others. NHPR’s Amanda Loder interviewed people across the state’s seven regions to get a sense of what New Hampshire’s economic recovery looks like in 2012. Listen to voices of New Hampshire's economy and share your story in an interactive audio experience.
Twenty-three hundred jobs were added to New Hampshire payrolls between April and May, but the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remains stuck at 5%.
There was good news for Coos County: the North Country’s rate dipped below 8% for the first time this year.
Grafton County has the State’s lowest unemployment at 4.1%.
All in all, the data met expectations, says Bob Cote, a researcher with NH Employment Security.
As 2011 was winding down, consumer spirits were starting to rise. Now the momentum has carried into the new year, with polls showing consumer sentiment continuing to improve.
Economists say that negative factors, such as falling home values or rising meat prices, are nowhere near as important as the growth in jobs.
