New Hampshire's unemployment rate reached a 15-year high in January, climbing to 5.1 percent, according to state officials. Unemployment in Lebanon and the surrounding area, including Hanover, is lower than the state average, at 2.5 percent as of December 2008.
The statewide unemployment rate jumped 0.8 percent from December, when unemployment was at 4.3 percent, said Annette Nielsen, labor market analyst at the Concord office of the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security.
"That's really a huge jump for New Hampshire," she said.
New Hampshire's unemployment rate is low compared to those of other states, Nielsen said, citing California, where unemployment is now at more than 10 percent. The average unemployment rate nationwide was 7.6 percent as of January, according to the United States Bureau of Labor statistics web site.
The state's relatively low unemployment rate may be due to its varied workforce, in addition to its lack of a sales tax and low income tax, which help attract consumers and residents to the area, Hanover town manager Julia Griffin said. New Hampshire residents pay a 5-percent tax only on income from dividends and interest.
"We have enough diversity in our employment base that we're not likely to see the significant double-digit [unemployment] rates we've been seeing in other states," she said.
The Upper Valley has been particularly resilient, Griffin added.
"Typically, in years past the unemployment rate in the Upper Valley has tended to trail the unemployment rate in New Hampshire," she said. "The College and the hospital were pretty recession proof."
Griffin said she was unsure whether the Upper Valley's unemployment rate will align with that of New Hampshire as a result of the College's recent layoffs.
Nielsen and other officials said they remain uncertain about the state's ability to maintain its relatively low unemployment rate in the future.
"At this point, we are not immune [to the economic downturn]; we are not able to continue to stay immune to this," she said. "It's catching up to us."
New Hampshire citizens who have lost their jobs as a result of the economic downturn should receive assistance from several federal, state and local government initiatives, Pamela Walsh, deputy chief of staff for Gov. John Lynch, said.
State residents' unemployment benefits will increase by $25 per week starting next week as a result of the national economic stimulus plan, she said.
New Hampshire has created a "Job Match" web site to help residents find employment, Walsh said. An employee workforce council has also been created to provide job search assistance, training programs and other career services for laid-off workers.
Employment security offices have experienced a significant increase in unemployment claims, Nielsen said.
Statewide, unemployment claims rose from 7,000 to 13,000 from November to December 2008, and employment security office staff have had to work overtime and on Saturdays to meet the demand, Nielsen said.
Local governments will also have to make adjustments, Griffin said. Most New Hampshire towns will hold their annual meetings next week, at which they will approve their budgets for the year. Current state laws prevent towns from approving additional budgetary measures after the meeting has occurred, which may prevent some localities from using federal stimulus money received after the meetings take place until the next year.
"We've got to come up with a legal mechanism through state law that can allow us to accept federal stimulus money that we may receive," Griffin said. "They're [also] coming up with some quick legislation in Concord to allow towns to hold quick town meetings on seven days notice."
Hanover, which will not hold its town meeting for six weeks, and Lebanon, which can pass budgetary measures more frequently because it is a city, are unlikely to have difficulty authorizing budgetary measures using appropriations from the stimulus package, Griffin said.
