PORTLAND, Maine - Maine's three metropolitan areas saw big declines in unemployment last year.
Figures released Feb. 3 by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics show that between December 2014 and December 2015, unemployment in the Bangor area fell from 4.9% to 3.7%.
In the Greater Portland/South Portland area, the rate fell from 4% to 2.8%. The biggest decline was recorded in the Lewiston-Auburn area, where unemployment fell from a rate of 4.9% to 3.4%.
The bureau's figures are not adjusted for seasonal variation.
All three of New Hampshire's major metropolitan areas - Portsmouth, Dover-Durham and Manchester - had unemployment rates of under 3 percent last December, down about a percentage point from a year ago.
