Understanding the Employment Situation in Maine
Originally Published May 22, 2020. Updated on June 19, 2020 On Friday June 19, the Center for Workforce Research and Information (CWRI) and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released May workforce estimates for Maine. These include estimates of the unemployment rate and the change in nonfarm payroll jobs. The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented job loss in Maine and the nation, though nonfarm payroll jobs began to show signs of recovery in May. The pandemic has created significant data collection and estimation challenges. This document provides information on how these estimates are derived, what some of the challenges were for collection and estimation, and then answers some questions we expect to arise. How this data is collected The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics enters into cooperative agreements with state workforce agencies to collaboratively produce and disseminate workforce data. Two programs, Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Local Area Unemployment Statis