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Maine Unemployment Rate Unchanged in May

Maine's unemployment rate remained unchanged in May at 5.7 percent. That's according to state Labor Commissioner Jeanne Paquette, who says the figures indicate that over the past year, the number of jobless Mainers fell by 7,000, to 40,600.

Paquette says the state's share of the population that's employed - 61.6 percent - continues to beat the national average of 58.9 percent.

The state's unemployment rate also beat the national average for May of 6.3 percent. 

In Maine's three major metropolitan areas, the unemployment rate was below the state average. In the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford region, it was 4.6 percent, in Lewiston-Auburn it was 5.5 percent, and in Bangor it was 5.7 percent.

In the New England region, the unemployment rate in May averaged 5.9 percent. Vermont had the lowest rate of 3.3 percent, while Rhode Island had the highest - 8.2 percent.

Rates for other states were 4.4 percent in New Hampshire, 5.6 percent in Massachusetts and 6.9 percent in Connecticut.

Barbara grew up in Biddeford, Maine. She earned a master’s in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Southern Maine.