Maine may have record low unemployment, but a new report says the state will create fewer than 100 jobs by the year 2026.
The report by the Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research and Information is further evidence that the state is in an extended rut in terms of economic growth.
Overall, it predicts a net growth of just 94 jobs in Maine between 2016 to 2026. That’s about nine new jobs each year.
The report says the state will add jobs in health care and food service fields, but experience an equal loss in office administration and production.
The report also predicts significant workforce losses among people who are ages 45-54 — more than 22 percent.
And it shows a big jump in people ages 65 and older who will be working by 2026 — but that it will lose residents in nearly every other age demographic.
The projections are expected to become a key issue in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
