AUGUSTA, Maine — Governor Paul R. LePage released a press statement March 23 about the 2.9 percent unemployment rate for February, which is down from 3.3 percent a year ago and 8.1 percent when he took office in 2011.
“Maine has reached not only a record-low unemployment rate, but more important, we have a record-high number of private sector jobs and workers are earning more,” said Governor LePage. “When I took office I promised the Maine people that their prosperity is my priority. Our Administration continues to put the right policies in place that put people back to work and encourage our businesses to grow.”
The average wage per job for the 12 months through September 2017 was $43,528, up 1.6 percent from the same period a year earlier.
The Governor stated, “We still have more to do. As the oldest state, we must attract younger people so that businesses are not held back when older workers move on to their well-earned retirement. My tax conformity and student debt proposals will help address this challenge. We need to make strategic investments in reforming the programs that are not as effective as they should be, but we should not use our increased prosperity to start handing out cash to every lobbyist in Augusta.”
