New Hampshire
NH unemployment claims rising, a potential salve for tight labor market • New Hampshire Bulletin
Years after the pandemic threw businesses into disarray, changing expectations around work and leading to widespread worker shortages, New Hampshire’s workforce demand is still strong. Currently, 85 percent of New Hampshire residents between 25 and 55 are employed, according to the Department of Employment Security.
“Historically (that’s) about as high as New Hampshire gets,” said Richard Lavers, deputy commissioner of the department, in an interview.
Employers are fighting for workers. Some are looking ahead eagerly to potential macroeconomic changes that would ease the hiring headaches, noted David Juvet, senior vice president of public policy at the Business & Industry Association, a statewide trade group.
“Others have just realized that the people aren’t out there,” Juvet said, referring to potential employees. “And so they’re making adjustments to try and get by with the individuals that they have.”
But last month, the department, which processes unemployment insurance claims, released an annual report that indicates an increase in unemployment claims in the state. And Lavers says it could provide a silver lining for the state’s job market.
“This year, employers had much more success in being able to fill their openings going into the summer season,” he said.
Here are three takeaways from the report.
Unemployment claims are rising, but they’re below 2019 levels
The number of Granite Staters filing unemployment claims has risen in recent years, according to Department of Employment Security data. In calendar year 2023, the department processed 25,452 claims, up from 22,683 in 2022 – a 12.2 percent increase.
And the state paid much more in unemployment claims from 2022 to 2023. It paid $35.4 million in 2023, compared to $25.2 million in 2022.
But that increase isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Lavers says. To start, he notes, 2022 was an abnormally low year for unemployment claims, the result of an extremely tight job market and a large number of vacant positions. A rise in unemployment claims is an indication that the labor market has healed somewhat, and that employers aren’t as desperate, according to Lavers.
“Back in 2022, we were actually below 2 percent unemployment,” Lavers said. “That was too low for the purposes of a healthy job market.”
Secondly, while unemployment claim numbers are rising, they are still just below comparable numbers in 2019. In June 2019, the average number of weekly unemployment claims was 3,180; in June 2024, that average was 3,130.
New Hampshire is an anomaly: Last month, the United States saw on average 12 percent more claims than June 2019, and Massachusetts saw 10 percent more.
Most of those unemployed are voluntarily unemployed
New Hampshire’s unemployment rate in 2023 averaged 2.2 percent, down slightly from 2022 when it was 2.3 percent.
But to Lavers, there is a more significant indicator. Among the residents currently making unemployment claims, about two-thirds are voluntarily unemployed, he said, meaning they left their jobs willingly and were not laid off or fired. That metric is measured by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics using a state-specific survey that features 1,300 Granite Staters.
New Hampshire’s ratio is high and reflects the fact that fewer layoffs are happening as employers clamor to convince their employees to stay. It also demonstrates a workforce looking to improve their work lives and feeling confident enough to leave positions, Lavers said.
“Those numbers are actually healthier than ‘22 and ‘23 when the number of people categorized as unemployed was lower, which came at the same time employers were struggling to fill their openings,” Lavers said.
Hiring is rebounding, but not for all
By some tallies, New Hampshire has grown its workforce since the pandemic. The state has 29,000 more jobs this year than it did before the pandemic, Lavers said, an increase of 4 percent.
Still, that increase is not even across the board. Office-based jobs have largely rebounded. But other areas, such as health care, have not. Hospitals and long-term care facilities continue to struggle to hire nurses, Lavers said.
“You continue to see that, a little bit of a, you know, an unequal experience across sectors,” Lavers said.
Juvet said New Hampshire employers are struggling with other job categories, including retail workers, restaurant workers, and technology and manufacturing workers.
Juvet said there remain fundamental barriers for businesses to be able to attract and hire employees, chief among them being housing and child care costs.
“I think the general high cost of living in New England is a factor, in terms of people considering New England as a place to move to,” Juvet said in an interview. “I think there’s a big gap between the availability of labor in the northern part of the state, say from Plymouth and north, to more southern, more densely populated parts of the state.”
And he said despite some positive movement in unemployment insurance claims, the New Hampshire business community is still struggling when it comes to employees.
“If the labor market is less restrictive than it was, I think it’s a marginal improvement,” Juvet said. “Many employers are still having trouble finding people.”
New Hampshire
2 Hudson, NH, residents arrested after cats found abandoned
HUDSON, N.H. — An animal cruelty investigation led to the arrest of two former tenants who police say left three cats behind in the apartment they were evicted from.
The Hudson Police Department said officers responded to 19 Oliver Drive on Nov. 25 after the town’s animal control officer received a report that multiple cats had been left behind in an apartment previously occupied by Faith Byers, 48, and Kevin Greene, 57.
The pair had reportedly been evicted a week earlier, on Nov. 18.
Police said that attempts to reach Byers and Greene by phone were unsuccessful, and the property owner later confirmed that the two had moved out without taking the cats or arranging for their care.
With the owner’s permission, police entered the apartment and found three cats alone inside the unoccupied residence.
Police said they determined the cats had been left unattended for several days in conditions lacking adequate airflow, sunlight, litter and consistent access to food or water. Police added that no care plan had been made for the animals, and neither former tenant indicated any intention to return for them.
The animals were safely removed and transported to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire in Bedford, where they are now receiving care.
Arrest warrants were issued for Byers and Greene, who are each charged with one count of cruelty to animals, a Class A misdemeanor. They were arrested on Friday and released on personal recognizance bail.
They are scheduled to appear in 9th Circuit Court Nashua District Division at 1 p.m. April 28.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
New Hampshire
Pakistan hosts diplomatic discussions on ending war
Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will meet in Islamabad today in an attempt to come up with a plan to de-escalate the Iran war.
The meeting comes as several thousand more U.S. troops arrived in the region and after another group got involved in the expanding conflict: Yemen’s Houthis.
The Iran-backed Houthis launched missiles towards Israel, and there’s concern their involvement could threaten another vital global shipping lane in the Red Sea.
Here are more updates on day 30 of the Iran war.
Diplomacy Push in Pakistan
The four foreign ministers from regional powers will meet in Islamabad today and Monday for a push towards diplomacy to end the war.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, the Egyptian government said: “Discussions are expected to focus on recent developments related to regional military escalation and ongoing diplomatic efforts to contain tensions and promote de-escalation.”
“The talks come amid heightened concerns about regional stability, with participating countries seeking to coordinate their stances and support political solutions to emerging crises,” it added.
Whether whatever consensus the countries known as “the quad” come up with will be accepted by the US, Israel, and Iran is another question.
Pakistan has emerged as a possible peace-broker in the conflict, passing messages between the U.S. and Tehran. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Saturday that “dialogue, diplomacy, and such confidence-building measures are the only way forward.”
Dar also welcomed the fact Iran has agreed to allow 20 Pakistan-flagged ships – or two a day – through the Strait of Hormuz.
Houthis enter war
Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen launched the first missile they have fired since the war began toward Israel on Saturday. Israel’s military successfully intercepted it but the Houthis’ attack opens another front in a war that has now moved into its second month.
Up until Saturday’s missile launch the Houthis had stayed out of this war. But a Houthi spokesman said attacks will continue until “the aggression on all resistance fronts stops.”
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AP
/
AP
The Yemen-based rebels were active during Israel’s war in Gaza, firing on cargo ships in the Red Sea and disrupting global commercial traffic.
With Iran essentially blockading the Strait of Hormuz, driving up global oil prices, there are concerns that if the Houthis start attacking ships in the Red Sea again global shipping will be even more disrupted.
Iran also hit multiple sites around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Saturday and Israel’s military says Iran is increasingly using cluster bombs.
Designed to detonate at high altitude the munition disperses dozens of smaller bombs that are more challenging for Israel’s multi-layered air defense system to intercept and can cause damage over a wider area.
Dozens of countries have signed onto a cluster munitions treaty banning the weapons – except Iran, Israel and the U.S.
Iran threatens U.S. universities in region
Iranian authorities and residents say more airstrikes hit them overnight. Social media videos from across Iran showed strikes hitting all over the country.
Israel’s military said it had completed what it called a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting weapons production and storage sites.
Iran claims U.S.-Israeli strikes hit a Tehran university over the weekend and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened American university campuses in the Middle East in retaliation.
“We advise all employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas” to stay a kilometer away from campuses, the statement, carried by Iranian media, said.
Several US universities have campuses in the Gulf, including New York University in the United Arab Emirates and Texas A&M University, among others, in Qatar.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to fire drones and missiles at Gulf countries, with Kuwait saying it was intercepting missile and drone attacks early Sunday. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed ten drones.
Iran also claimed it had attacked two major aluminium sites in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Emirates Global Aluminium confirmed an Iranian attack wounded several and caused significant damage to its plant.
U.S. Troops injured, more arrive
At least 15 U.S. service members were wounded Friday in an Iranian strike on a Saudi air base that hosts American troops, according to the Associated Press, including at least five in serious condition. The missile and drone strikes targeted Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base, located outside the capital Riyadh.
Iran has targeted U.S. service members at bases throughout the region since the war began a month ago, in retaliation for the U.S. attacks and seeking to drive troops out of the region. Overall, the Pentagon has put the U.S. casualty toll at 13 killed and more than 300 injured.
On Saturday, troops from the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, made up of around 3,500 sailors and Marines, arrived in the Middle East, according to U.S. Central Command.
The U.S. military will not say where and how they might be deployed. Thousands more soldiers from the U.S. military’s 82nd Airborne Division are also expected to be deployed.
Journalists killed in Lebanon
Three Lebanese journalists covering the Israeli invasion of the country’s south were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jezzine.
One of them worked for a TV channel affiliated with Hezbollah and Israel accuses him of being a militant rather than a journalist – but has not provided evidence. The journalist Israel says it targeted was Ali Shaeb, a veteran TV correspondent and household name in Lebanon. After killing him, Israel’s military issued a statement accusing him of exposing the locations of Israeli troops.
The other two journalists killed were siblings, TV correspondent Fatima Ftouni and her cameraman brother, Mohammed Ftouni. Afterward their father appeared on TV, saying he was proud of his children.
All three had been covering Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials called the attack a flagrant violation of international law, and said they’re complaining to the UN Security Council. Hundreds of fellow journalists marched at a protest vigil in Lebanon’s capital.
The three journalists were among at least 47 people killed Saturday in Israeli attacks, according to Lebanese health officials.
Nine of those killed were paramedics, which the head of the World Health Organization called “a tragedy,” noting health workers are protected under international law.
Israel has intensified its attacks across Lebanon, mostly in the South, where Israeli ground troops are moving northward to try to oust Hezbollah militants.
Another Israeli soldier was also killed in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing his condolences on X over the weekend.
Developments in Syria, Iraq
The war is spreading to more parts of the Middle East. On Sunday, Syria said it had intercepted a drone strike from Iraq targeting a U.S. military base. Pro-Iran Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for some attacks on US interests.
Separately, the Syrian and UAE governments condemned an attack targeting the residence of the Kurdish region’s president Nechirvan Barzani.
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the attack saying: “The sovereignty of Iraq, and of Kurdistan within it, is essential to regional stability. Everything must be done to prevent Iraq from being drawn into the ongoing escalation.”
On Sunday, the Israeli army said it had launched its “first” attack into Lebanon from Syria.
Jane Arraf in Amman, Emily Feng in Van, Turkey, Lauren Frayer in Jezzine, Lebanon, Carrie Khan in Tel Aviv, and Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 NPR
New Hampshire
Abandoned Camper Fire On South Main Street Knocked Down By Concord Fire And Rescue Teams
CONCORD, NH — The Concord Fire Department is investigating the cause of a camper fire on South Main Street late Friday night.
Around 11:30 p.m., fire and rescue teams were sent to South Main Street, not far from Langdon Avenue, for a report of a camper on fire. Dispatch said it was unknown if anyone was inside or if the camper was abandoned.
“We have a couple of calls on it,” a dispatcher said. “It’s fully involved.”
A few minutes later, the fire was confirmed, and firefighters worked to extinguish it. The battalion commander confirmed no one was inside, and it appeared to be abandoned. Dispatch said, if they recalled correctly, the camper had been there for “quite a while.”
News 603 posted videos from the scene on Facebook here:
And here:
The bulk of the fire was knocked down after about 20 minutes, with firefighters overhauling and dealing with “the hot spots.”
Not long after the overhaul update, firefighters were sent to a business on South Main Street, near the camper fire, in response to a report of an alarm activation.
After investigating, there did not appear to be an activation at the business, a commander said. Later, dispatch said the alarm appeared to restore itself automatically. Firefighters cleared the scene of the business alarm just after midnight on Saturday.
-
Sports1 week agoIOC addresses execution of 19-year-old Iranian wrestler Saleh Mohammadi
-
Miami, FL4 days agoJannik Sinner’s Girlfriend Laila Hasanovic Stuns in Ab-Revealing Post Amid Miami Open
-
New Mexico1 week agoClovis shooting leaves one dead, four injured
-
Politics1 week agoSchumer gambit fails as DHS shutdown hits 36 days and airport lines grow
-
Tennessee7 days agoTennessee Police Investigating Alleged Assault Involving ‘Reacher’ Star Alan Ritchson
-
Minneapolis, MN4 days agoBoy who shielded classmate during school shooting receives Medal of Honor
-
Science1 week agoRecord Heat Meets a Major Snow Drought Across the West
-
Technology1 week agoYouTube job scam text: How to spot it fast