CWRI

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...

On Friday May 22, the Center for Workforce Research and Information (CWRI) and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released April 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 in the last two months. It also 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 Statistics (LAUS), are designed to provide a monthly indication of workforce conditions and trends. Data from those prog...

Annual revisions to monthly workforce estimates for Maine have been published. Based on more complete data, revisions indicate that the unemployment rate and size of the labor force were little changed throughout 2019. The number of nonfarm payroll jobs increased more than previous estimates indicated. Data cited in this brief is seasonally adjusted. Unemployment Rate Preliminary estimates released each month indicated that the unemployment rate was as high as 3.5 percent in the first two months and as low as 2.8 percent in the fall of 2019. Revised rates indicate that the unemployment rate changed little during the year, gradually falling from 3.2 percent in the first two months of the year to 2.9 or 3.0 percent each of the last eight months. Given the size of the survey sample and margins of error in the estimates, there has essentially been no change in the statewide unemployment rate for more than two years. Unemployment has been below 4.0 percent each month since December...

Annual revisions to monthly workforce estimates for Maine have been published. Based on more complete data, revisions indicate that the unemployment rate and size of the labor force were little changed throughout 2018. The number of nonfarm payroll jobs was somewhat higher early in the year and lower later in the year than previous estimates indicated. Data cited in this brief is seasonally adjusted. Unemployment Rate Preliminary estimates released each month indicated that unemployment was as low as 2.7 percent in the spring and as high as 3.4 percent in the last three months of 2018. Revised rates indicate that unemployment changed little during the year, gradually rising from 3.2 percent in the first three months of the year to 3.5 percent in the last five months. Given the size of the survey sample and margins of error in the estimates, there has essentially been no change in the statewide unemployment rate for more than two years. Unemployment has been below 4.0 pe...

Job Outlook to 2026 by Educational Requirement The first blog in our series on the 2016 to 2026 employment outlook focused on how an aging population is expected to constrain job growth . The second focused on how the occupational job structure is expected to continue to gradually shift . Those shifts have implications for the educational requirements of the labor force, which is the focus of this blog. Performance and educational requirements differ from one occupation to another. Some jobs require little experience or education, others extensive experience or education, with a whole range in between. So as the mix of jobs changes, the educational requirements of the labor force also change. Additionally, the requirements to successfully perform the functions of most occupations changes over time as technology and work practices evolve, and other factors impact the way the functions of a job are performed. About 77 percent of jobs in Maine are in occupations that have a ...

Occupational Employment Outlook to 2026 Our recent Employment Outlook blog focused on how an aging population is constraining job growth in Maine. We expect the relative flatness of the last decade to continue through our forecast horizon of 2026. Though little change in total employment is expected, large numbers of job openings are expected each year, and the structure of employment will continue to gradually shift toward certain occupations and away from others. Changes in demand for goods and services and the competitive landscape, as well as other factors cause employment to rise in some companies and industries and decline in others. This directly impacts which occupations are in demand. Changes in bank employment, for example, impacts demand for tellers and loan officers, as changes in construction employment impacts demand for carpenters and electricians. The occupational distribution of jobs within companies and industries also changes over time as technology and in...

Employment Outlook to 2026 Workforce conditions in Maine are very tight in 2018, with unemployment and other measures of labor market slack at historically low levels. This is a positive development for individuals, but a challenge for employers who are concerned about future labor availability. This blog provides context to how this situation developed, then looks at our forecast for employment through 2026. How We Reached This Point From the early 1960s until 2007, employment in Maine nearly doubled. The rate of growth slowed in the 1990s, and, except for the decline and recovery during and after the 2008 and 2009 recession, employment has been relatively unchanged over the last decade. This recent lack of growth is because the prime working-age population of the state has contracted modestly. Combined with strong economic conditions, this has created a very competitive hiring and retention environment that has driven inflation-adjusted average wages up at the fastest...