A picture of job creation of Maine (graph) and the State of the State address

No doubt Gov. LePage will offer a picture of job creation in Maine in his State of the State address.

His administration and campaign have touted the decline to 6.2 percent unemployment from 8.4 percent in 2010.

But how does that compare to trends in the U.S.?

One publication offers a graph that shows the comparison:

unemployment-rate-graph

As you can see, when Gov. LePage came into office, Maine’s unemployment was far below the country as a whole. It’s still below, but the difference between the two is much smaller.

In that same period, the U.S. unemployment rate went from 9.4 percent to 6.7 percent.

  • Thus the U.S. rate declined by 2.7 percentage points, a 28.7% decline.
  • In contrast, the decline in Maine of 2.2 percentage points was a 26.2% decline.

As this comparison shows, Maine’s job creation record is not better than what occurred in the United States.

Maine’s is actually slightly worse.

However, given the claims already made about Maine’s economic health, it would not be surprising to hear some say otherwise.

Amy Fried

About Amy Fried

Amy Fried loves Maine's sense of community and the wonderful mix of culture and outdoor recreation. She loves politics in three ways: as an analytical political scientist, a devoted political junkie and a citizen who believes politics matters for people's lives. Fried is Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine. Her views do not reflect those of her employer or any group to which she belongs.