The lingering surge of COVID-19 cases contributed to the loss of 3,000 jobs in September, according to the Maine Department of Labor.
It was the second straight month that the number of jobs in Maine has gone down. A revision to the August numbers found there were 3,500 fewer jobs that month than in July.
Maine's unemployment rate in September was 4.8%, down from 4.9% in August. The jobless rate has been stuck at 4.8% and 4.9% since last February. The Labor Department says there's been a clear correlation between coronavirus surges and employment slowdowns in the fall of 2020 and the spring of this year.
The percentage of Mainers looking for work remains lower than it was pre-pandemic. The Labor Department says if the labor force participation rate, as it's called, were the same now as it was before the pandemic, Maine's unemployment rate would be 8.2%.
