Maine continued its streak of posting unemployment rates below 4 percent.
The preliminary rate of 2.7 percent for April is unchanged from March, and the 29th consecutive month where the jobless rate has fallen under 4 percent, according to a release from the Maine Department of Labor. That streak is the longest period on record.
In April of 2017, Maine’s unemployment rate was 3.3 percent.
Maine’s numbers beat the national unemployment rate of 3.9 percent. That is down from 4.1 percent in March and 4.7 percent from a year ago.
The New England average was 3.6 percent in April.
Maine’s rate of 2.7 percent was the second lowest unemployment rate in New England, bested only by New Hampshire where the April jobless rate was 2.6 percent. Vermont recorded 2.8 percent; Massachusetts was 3.5 percent; Rhode Island, 4.5 percent; and Connecticut was also 4.5 percent.
Private sector jobs were up about 5,000 from year ago, concentrated primarily in the fields of health care and social assistance, and professional and business service sectors.
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