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.”
Sara Doherty
Franklin, NH – Sara Jane (Sanford) Doherty, 79, of Franklin, New Hampshire, passed away peacefully at her home on June 11, 2026. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, Sara was born on June 5, 1947, in Hanover, New Hampshire, to Harold and Sadie (Pettengill) Sanford.
As the daughter of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee, Sara spent her childhood moving throughout New England, living in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. She graduated from high school in Hudson, Massachusetts, and later returned to New Hampshire, eventually settling in Franklin, where she made her home for more than forty years.
Sara built a successful career in the textile industry. She worked as a seamstress at Howland Originals before joining Star Specialty Knitting, where she began as a stitcher and, through hard work and determination, advanced to Plant Manager. She retired in 2003, and one of the greatest joys of her retirement was caring for several of her grandchildren, whom she adored.
Sara was a remarkably talented and creative artisan. She sewed clothing for her children when they were young and later created outfits for her grandchildren and their dolls. She was a gifted painter and artist whose extraordinary drawings and paintings brought joy to those around her. An accomplished seamstress, knitter, crocheter, cake decorator, and musician, Sara had an exceptional ability to create beauty in many forms. Her handmade gifts and treasured creations will be cherished by her family for generations to come.
Her talent for cake decorating blossomed into a successful side business that spanned more than thirty years. Sara created hundreds of stunning and imaginative cakes, including wedding and birthday cakes for her own children and grandchildren. Her passion for baking was so well known that for many years her license plate proudly read “CAKES+.”
Sara also had a remarkable gift for bringing people together. She hosted countless family reunions, each one more creative than the last. With elaborate themes, games, prizes, delicious food, and endless laughter, she created memories that her family will treasure forever. She was also known for her generous holiday gatherings, often welcoming more than thirty family members and friends into her home for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Summers brought cherished Fourth of July cookouts by Webster Lake, where Sara delighted in decorating the waterfront and gathering loved ones to enjoy the annual boat parade.
Sara’s love of giraffes was known by all who knew her. She spent years collecting hundreds of them, giving each a special “G” name. Before her passing, she shared one of her favorites, “Geebri,” with her granddaughter Sydni, who is expecting Sara’s first great-grandchild.
Her warmth, creativity, generosity, and love of family touched everyone who knew her. To say she will be missed is a vast understatement. She was truly the heart of her family.
Sara leaves behind her devoted husband of 43 years, Joel Doherty; her sons, Todd (Michelle) Chapman of Sanbornton, New Hampshire, and Paul (Cheryl) Chapman of Northfield, New Hampshire; her stepdaughters, Ali (Oliver) Frates of Amherst, New Hampshire, and Kate Hodge of Durham, New Hampshire; and her beloved grandchildren, Shelby, Sydni, Morgan, Owen, Duncan, Calum, Macy, and Elyse, and Step-grandchildren, Matthew, Jennifer, Eric, & Kevin.
Sara was predeceased by her parents.
Sara’s family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Franklin VNA for their rapid and seamless response in setting up hospice, and to The Payson Center for their dedication and care, which gave us more precious time with her.
A graveside service will be held on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 at 11:00 AM in Franklin Cemetery, Thompson Park in Franklin.
For more information or to leave the family an online condolence, please visit www.smartmemorialhome.com.
Click here to sign the guest book or honor their memory with flowers, donations, or other heartfelt tributes
A staple of many New Hampshire town fairs, the pig scramble may soon look a little different.
A bill signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte last week requires the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture to create best practices for any event in which people compete to capture a pig. Those guidelines will be published before the 2027 fair season, so they won’t be in place for any fairs with pig scrambles this year, such as the upcoming Deerfield Fair in the fall.
Generally, a pig scramble involves people of the same age competing to capture pigs that have been let loose in a large pen. Contestants have to catch the pig in a drawstring bag, and the first one to do so can take the pig home.
Rep. Cathryn Harvey, a Democrat from Spofford, is the prime sponsor of the bill. She said each fair has different rules for their pig scrambles, meaning some can be more humane than others. One aspect of the events she hopes will change is the bags pigs are captured in.
“They’re putting an animal in a plastic bag on a hot summer day,” Harvey said. “It isn’t a great idea.”
Although some fairs already use more breathable bags out of burlap, Joan O’Brien, president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League, said she’s also seen pigs being kept in plastic bags for long periods of time after the event. Not only would a burlap bag improve the pig’s ability to breathe in the heat, she said, but she also wants fairs to require participants to bring an animal carrier for the trip home. Her organization was ultimately in favor of the legislation.
“If you don’t have a carrier, you should not be allowed to leave your pig lying in a bag,” O’Brien said, adding that some fairs already ask contestants to bring carriers. “You should be taking them right home.”
The Deerfield Fair has implemented another rule that O’Brien and Harvey hope becomes part of statewide best practices — having parents supervise their child in the pen. O’Brien once witnessed a child hang a pig upside down by its legs and then lower it headfirst into the bag.
“In the heat of the moment, the kids get excited and they just do whatever it takes to get the pig in the bag,” O’Brien said. She said parents should work with the event referee to make sure their kid is handling the pig humanely.
Harvey’s bill originally called for pig scrambles to be banned around the state, but both she and O’Brien feel that universal guidelines for fairs would still make the experience better for the animals. Even seemingly small things, Harvey said, like giving the pigs water after the scramble, would be an improvement to the current situation for them.
“I think that the bill will embolden people to speak up at these events,” O’Brien said. “If they think a pig is being mistreated, they’ll be able to say to themselves, ‘I know that there’s supposed to be a rule, so I’m going to say something.’ So I think that would be a good outcome.”
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