New Unemployment Claims In New Hampshire Continue To Drop

CONCORD, NH — Data from the state of New Hampshire continues to show a downward trend on new unemployment claims, according to the latest information from the U.S. Department of Labor and Employment Security.

New weekly claims for unemployment insurance came in at 2,557 for the week ending July 11 — a 47 percent drop compared to the week of July 4, and a 93 percent drop since the peak of claims in early April.

The state of New Hampshire has about 71,600 active weekly claims which is down from 116,000 in early May. Nearly 75,000 people were collecting last week.

"This marked another weekly claims report where the number of people that stopped filing for unemployment benefits in New Hampshire exceeded the number of new people filing for unemployment," Richard Lavers, the deputy commissioner for New Hampshire Employment Security said.

Last week, 5,776 filed for unemployment, a slight increase from the figures reported two weeks ago.

Employment Security also announced the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the month of June was 11.8 percent — a drop of 3.6 percent from May. At this time last year, the unemployment rate was 2.9 percent.

The total state labor force number increased to 744,840, about 11,000 higher than May but 29,000 lower than June 2019.

According to Employment Security data, a number of industries hit the hardest like hospitals, food and beverage stores, ambulatory health care services, and motor vehicle and parts dealers have regained some of their job losses; businesses like accommodation, food services and drinking places, and amusement, gambling, and recreation facilities have not.

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