Monthly Archives: October 2014

What’s not surprising about the Unemployment Rate

IN doing some research for my piece on the weaknesses masked by Maine’s unemployment rate (UER), I noticed two interesting things about the UER.  These two things should be kept in mind during the current campaign season. The state’s economy is certainly one of the central issues in the campaign season, and with that candidates […]

Nationally, job quality and wage growth continue to lag during recovery

AS noted yesterday, the BLS released the jobs report for September showing that the economy added 248,000 jobs while the unemployment rate (UER) dropped to a 6 year low of 5.9%. So that’s the good news–the economy continues to add jobs and is above pre-recession levels: Moreover, 2014 has shaped up to be (thus far) […]

Greater Portland leads Maine’s metro areas in job growth

ACCORDING to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford area was the only metro area to outpace the state in job growth over the past year. From the report: Unemployment rates were lower in August than a year earlier in 322 of the 373 metropolitan areas, higher in 44 […]

The (false) promise for jobs

FROM an op-ed titled A promise to grow jobs, shrink government that no Maine politician is making, authored by Allison Mitchell and published in this morning’s BDN: In just a month, America votes. Here in Maine, I’ll be looking for candidates smart and bold enough to call for investment in Maine’s future. As a parent, […]