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Unemployment Rates In Maine's Major Urban Areas Fall In June

Unemployment rates in Maine's three metro areas fell below 3% in June. The figures were released Thursday by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.It was the first time in a year-and-a-half that Bangor, Portland-South Portland and Lewiston-Auburn all registered jobless rates that low.

Portland-South Portland had the lowest unemployment rate in June, 2.3%.  It was down about a third-of-a-percent from May, and about half-a-percent lower than in June of 2018.

Lewiston-Auburn also saw a drop in unemployment of about a third-of-a-percent in June, to 2.8%. That matched the figures for Bangor.

All three metro areas had lower unemployment this June than last. But the bureau figures also show all three metro areas suffered a slight decline in the number of people in their workforce over the past year. The reason is not clear.

New Hampshire's three metro areas also saw declines in unemployment rates last month. Manchester fell to 2.3%, Durham-Dover to 2.2%, and Portsmouth to 2.1%.