While remaining one of the states with the lowest unemployment in the country, New Hampshire continues to see small but steady increases in the unemployment rate, including over the past year, when unemployment increased from 2.6% to 3%.
The labor force in the state continues to linger below the pre-pandemic rates, averaging 65.7% between the fall of 2024 and the fall of 2025. This compares to the 69% labor force participation in 2019, heights that have never been reached since the pandemic shutdowns in March 2020, according to the New Hampshire Employment Security office.
New Hampshire unemployment rates remain under the national average. According to the state Employment Security office, in November, the most recent available data shows the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the country was 4.6%, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the previous year.
New Hampshire, during the same month, had an unemployment rate of 3%, which is up 0.2% from the same month the previous year, or a decrease of about 2,400 people.
This puts New Hampshire sixth overall in the nation for lowest unemployment rate for seasonally adjusted unemployment, and eighth for unadjusted rates.
Cheshire County had a slightly lower unemployment rate than the overall state, at 2.9% in November, while Hillsborough had a slightly higher rate of 3.3%.
Areas of growth
An analysis by the NHES showed that in August 2025, there had been an increase of about 4,100 non-farm jobs, or an increase of about 0.6% from the previous year. This is a slowdown of job growth compared to the change the previous year, which was about 6,100 jobs or 0.9%.
The areas of the largest growth over the year included private educational services, which grew by 4,300 jobs. This is the largest area of growth by a significant margin, with health care and social assistance being the next largest area of growth, adding 2,600 jobs, and administrative and support services growing by 1,400 jobs.
Monadnock Community Hospital, one of the area’s largest healthcare employers with 650 employees, expects to continue to add positions in the coming year in the areas of nursing and support services staff, according to Human Resources Director Manzall Mitchell.
Mitchell said one of the areas where the hospital is likely to continue to grow is in its rehabilitation services department.
“Our community has a higher-than-average proportion of older adults, and as that population continues to age, the demand for rehabilitation services — particularly physical therapy — has steadily increased,” said Mitchell. “We’ve seen significant growth in rehab volumes at MCH, and we expect that trend to continue as more patients seek this care close to home.”
Mitchell said that statewide and nationally, there is also an increasing need for mental health service providers. A new $50 billion federal initiative from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, called the Rural Health Transformation Program, is intended to start providing funding to states this year to strengthen rural healthcare.
“With the Rural Healthcare Transformation Program, I would anticipate seeing an uptick in the number and need for workers who provide these critical mental health services,” Mitchell said.
The sectors that saw the biggest losses in the state were employment in retail trade, which dropped 2,000 jobs, accommodation and food services, which lost 1,300, and manufacturing, which dropped by 1,000 jobs.
Manufacturing remains strong for one of the area’s largest employers, MilliporeSigma, a medical manufacturer in Jaffrey.
MilliporeSigma has about 900 employees in its Jaffrey location and plans to add positions through 2026, according to Niall Buckley, the Jaffrey site head for MilliporeSigma.
“The Jaffrey site primarily supports MilliporeSigma’s Process Solutions business, manufacturing aseptic, virus and tangential flow filtration devices which serve the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sector. Demand in this area continues to grow,” said Buckley.
MilliporeSigma has about 20 open positions across the manufacturing, warehouse and quality control positions. The company is working to fill those jobs through direct recruiting, particularly for professional and technical roles, and staffing agencies. The company also developed summer internship programs and apprenticeship programs to reach out to young potential workers through high school and college.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.