Mainers' personal income rose at a 5% annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year.
The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis says Mainers' personal incomes grew slightly faster than the national average, but it was a smaller increase than in every other New England state. New Hampshire saw the biggest gain in personal income, rising at a 7.7% annual rate.
Most of the increase was driven by net earnings, which rose at a 7.9% annual rate. Dividends and interest rose at a 2.5% rate and transfer receipts actually fell slightly. Those include unemployment payments, which the bureau says shrank as more people went back to work. Also the pandemic stimulus payments were over.
Unemployment rates in two of Maine's three major urban areas held steady in May. The federal, Bureau of Labor Statistics says Bangor's jobless rate was just 2.8%, Lewiston-Auburn's 3%.
Portland-South Portland actually saw a small rise, from 2.4% in April to 2.6% in May.
