Maine Overview

The Maine job market and economy remained relatively stable through the recession. The Pine Tree State is diversifying its economic base from forestry, fishing, agriculture, tourism and manufacturing to business, finance, healthcare, information technology and advanced manufacturing. Maine’s 700,000 workers are focused on innovation and business expansion to reclaim and add jobs.

Maine Job Opportunities

The easternmost US state is one of the world’s largest pulp-paper producers and research centers committed to innovation and R&D. With millions of people visiting Maine annually, the tourism industry is also important for jobs in Maine. Along with its marine, healthcare, energy and government industries, the state is also expanding into technology, life sciences, biotechnology and other areas.

The education/health services sector provides the most Maine jobs, followed by trade, transportation and utilities. Each represents more than 20 percent of those employed and showed positive momentum in job gains in the first quarter of 2012. Government is also a critical hiring sector, but had constricted employment in 2011 and into 2012.

Maine Employment Trends

Maine’s unemployment rate peaked at 8.4 percent in late 2009 and early 2010 before falling to the 7-percent range by early 2012. State payrolls showed mild expansion in early 2012 following mixed employment shifts in 2011. However, online hiring constricted in late 2011 and early 2012, possibly signaling a delay in further improvements to the Maine job market.

Employment in Maine is expected to increase 1.4 percent between Q2 2012 and Q2 2013, slightly more than the 1.3 percent growth expected in the nation’s job supply during that time, according to Moody’s Analytics.