Tag Archives: wages

Skynet is not coming for our jobs

THE post-2008 economic recovery has been anemic by most measures, with job growth in particular making weak gains.  However, job growth in the U.S. has slowly declined over the past three decades, specifically since 2000 (the last year annual job growth in the U.S. hit 2%). Among the myriad of explanations for why job growth […]

Maine wages level off from 2013 – 2014

THE Center for Workforce Research and Information released average weekly wage data for the first quarter of this year for Maine.  Overall, wages leveled off from Q1 2013 to Q1 2014, with real wages for all industries declining $1.40, and real wages for service providing industries and goods producing industries declining $1.59 and $2.56, respectively. […]

BLS: U.S. Economy Adds 209,000 Jobs, Unemployment Rate Up Slightly

JUST released from the BLS. First from the household survey: Both the unemployment rate (6.2 percent) and the number of unemployed persons (9.7 million) changed little in July. Over the past 12 months, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons have declined by 1.1 percentage points and 1.7 million, respectively.  And from the […]

Just how low are wages in Maine? (w/ one update)

ON the back of Darren Fishell’s recent post on the BLS’s recently released wage data for 2013 for all counties in the U.S., below is a breakdown of average annual wages for all counties in New England.   As a state, Maine ranks 46th nationally, however, delving into the data reveals where Maine sits relative to its […]

State’s economy continues to improve, still plenty of slack in the labor market

FROM the Philly Fed: The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has released the coincident indexes for the 50 states for June 2014. In the past month, the indexes increased in 42 states, decreased in three, and remained stable in five, for a one-month diffusion index of 78. Over the past three months, the indexes increased […]

How do Maine’s Metro Areas do in attracting College Grads?

WHILE the evidence of a skills gap in Maine remains questionable at best, the state does face longer-term structural problems regarding its aging population.  While the aging population is not the primary problem with the current state of Maine’s economy and labor market, these long-term problems cannot be ignored either.  In order to replace the […]

Is there a Skills Gap in Maine?

AS noted previously, much has been made in Maine regarding twin structural problems in the state’s labor market and overall economy.  The first problem is that Maine’s shifting demographics are causing a labor shortage (or, some will argue, will within the next 6 years).  However, the concern over shifting demographics is a bit misplaced; at […]

June Jobs Report: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

AS noted previously, the national jobs report was released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Overall, the jobs report was positive, with the economy creating 288,000 jobs; well above projections of roughly 210,000.  This was the fifth consecutive month of job creation above 200,000, the first time that has happened since the tech […]