Maine jobless rate rises sharply (highest rate in more than a decade)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2008/06/20/maine_jobless_rate_rises_sharply/

By Glenn Adams
Associated Press Writer / June 20, 2008

AUGUSTA, Maine—Maine's unemployment rate rose by 0.7 of a percentage point in May to 5.4 percent, Maine's highest rate in more than a decade, the state Labor Department said Friday.

Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said last month's increase was "unusually large," adding that several more months of data will be needed to see if a trend develops. A spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci called the increase "alarming."

"We hope to see the numbers correct themselves in the months ahead," said spokesman David Farmer.

State Labor Department officials said the April-to-May increase was due in part to the sagging national economy. But part of the rise is also due to a statistical fluke tied to the timing of unemployment data gathering, said the department's Dana Evans.

Jobless rates were measured the week after many college students finished their work-study jobs for the academic year, but before they started summer jobs, causing a bump in the jobless rate, Evans explained. Normally, the numbers come in before work-study ends.

Maine's unemployment rate was a shade better than May's national rate of 5.5 percent, the department said. But it was also Maine's highest rate since April 1997, according to figures provided by Evans.

FULL story at link.

Month over month! We are screwn.