Carsey: State of Working New Hampshire Is Mixed for 2009
By Beth Potier, Media Relations
September 2, 2009
As Labor Day approaches, the Carsey Institute at UNH has issued a report that
looks at the state of working in New Hampshire through the end of 2008. The
issue brief finds that while New Hampshire workers have fared well compared
with other New England states, wages have stagnated and full-time workers now
form a smaller share of the labor force.
Compared to the rest of the region, New Hampshire has not felt the full force
of the recent economic downturn; in 2008, it had the lowest unemployment rate
(four percent) and highest labor force participation rate (71 percent) of all
six New England states.
“But these comparisons don’t capture important economic changes that
are affecting Granite State workers,” says report author Allison Churilla,
a research assistant at the Carsey Institute and a Ph.D. student in sociology
at UNH. “Trends suggest that, although the state has fared better than
its neighbors in recent years, New Hampshire workers are nonetheless feeling
the effects of the economic contraction.”
Among the key findings:
· New Hampshire workers’ median
wage, $17.25 in 2008, was lower in 2008 than in any of the previous five years.
Hourly wages of low-wage workers declined by seven percent over the last five
years.
· Full-time workers now form
a smaller share of the state’s labor force, which now comprises of a growing
share of involuntary part-time workers, due to layoffs and cutbacks.
· Job growth in New Hampshire
has outpaced all other New England states since 2000, but manufacturing jobs
continue to disappear.
The issue brief, “The State of Working New Hampshire 2009,” is available
to download at http://carseyinstitute.unh.edu/publications/IB-Churilla-NH-State-of-NH-09.pdf.
The Carsey Institute conducts policy and applied research on vulnerable families
and on sustainable community development, giving policy makers and practitioners
the timely, independent resources they need to effect change in their communities.
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