New Hampshire's unemployment rate climbed to 6.8 percent this June, hitting its highest level since 1993, according to data released by the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security's Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau on July 13 and the Manchester Union Leader. Hanover's 3.8 unemployment rate is the lowest of any community in the state.
Grafton County, where Dartmouth is located, has fared better than the rest of the state due to in part to the presence of the College and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, according to Anita Josten, a research analyst with New Hampshire Employment Security.
Lebanon, home to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, had the second-lowest unemployment rate in the state, at 4 percent. This percentage is still an increase from December 2008, when unemployment in Lebanon and the surrounding area, including Hanover, averaged 2.5 percent. Grafton Country overall posted the lowest unemployment rate of any county in the state at 5.5 percent, a 0.1 percent increase since May, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
The national unemployment rate was 9.5 percent in June. New Hampshire's unemployment is lower than the rest of the nation due to its relatively stable job market, Josten said. The state's lack of large financial institutions and companies also delayed the state's entrance into recession, she added.
Figures released on July 13 show that 50,090 New Hampshire residents, or 6.8 percent of people in the state, were without work but actively seeking it in June. The number represents an increase of 1,630, or 0.3 percent, since May. The total labor force has dropped by more than 3,000 this year, and the unemployment rate has nearly doubled since 2008, when it was 3.7 percent.
"It was announced that the recession began in December 2007 and while other states were experiencing job losses, our employment growth continued through June 2008," Josten said. "Now where you see it slightly increasing, it shows that we're not on an island and we have to face up to the fact that we're part of the global recession."
Michael Power, executive director of community outreach for NH Works, a state-sponsored system that provides support for job seekers, said that regions of the state like Seabrook and North Country, which are dependent on manufacturing and logging, have been hit hardest by the recession.
In most other regions, the state's diverse economy, which includes many small businesses, is able to buffer some of the effects that an economic downturn might have on states highly dependent on one or two industries, he said.
"Based on historical records, New Hampshire is one of the last states to enter a recession and one of the first states to come out of it," he said. "This recovery is going to be stretched out and many analysts think that we might see higher unemployment figures as the economy strengthens. More people who have left the workforce and stopped seeking for employment will be encouraged to start looking again so unemployment may go up a tick or two. We might also see a period that analysts call jobless recovery, when more orders are getting placed, but businesses will wait until the trends indicate that the recovery is definite before they hire again."
Power said that unemployment figures only describe a part of the recession's effects.
"Unemployment figures are based upon interviews with employers and people looking for work," he said. "We should look at unemployment figures, but also at those who are underemployed, formerly full-time workers who are just hanging on now, and we have to worry about those people who have lost their jobs and are just so discouraged that they stop looking."
Power added that he thinks the work ethic of New Hampshire citizens may hasten economic recovery.
"I think we only see the dark side of recovery efforts," he said. "Nowadays, we worry when unemployment goes over 4 percent and it was not too long ago when 4 percent was considered the norm."
Governor John Lynch's office, the city of Lebanon and the town of Hanover could not be reached for comment by press time.
