Maine’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 3 percent, up slightly from 2.9 percent for June and down from 3.5 percent in July 2017, the state Department of Labor said.

The number of unemployed job-seekers in Maine declined by 2,800 over the one-year period ending in July to 21,500, the department said in a report issued Friday. Maine’s unemployment rate has been below 4 percent for 32 consecutive months, the longest period on record.

Maine’s preliminary nonfarm payroll jobs estimate for July of 628,500 was up 5,700 from a year earlier, according to the report. The private sector jobs estimate was up 5,400 to 527,900, with gains primarily in the health care, hospitality and manufacturing sectors, it said. Government jobs were little changed at 100,600.

Maine’s employment-to-population ratio estimate of 61.8 percent remained above the U.S. average of 60.5 percent.

The U.S. preliminary unemployment rate of 3.9 percent for July was down slightly from 4 percent for June and down from 4.3 percent in July 2017, the report said.

The New England unemployment average for July was 3.6 percent, with New Hampshire at 2.7 percent, Vermont at 2.8 percent, Massachusetts at 3.6 percent, Rhode Island at 4.1 percent and Connecticut at 4.4 percent.

J. Craig Anderson can be contacted at 791-6390 or at:

canderson@pressherald.com

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