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A Snapshot of the State’s Labor Market

August 31, 2017 Common Cents
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In the long economic recovery following the Great Recession, New Hampshire’s workers have faced slower job growth than the nation as a whole, and wages for many low-income workers have not kept pace with inflation, leaving many people with less purchasing power. New Hampshire’s job growth has been more robust in the most recent years of the post-Recession economic expansion, however. The state’s economy has been fully recovered by several key metrics for some time, and the unemployment rate remains below 3.0 percent, less than the pre-Recession levels of 2006. By most measures, it is a good time to be a worker in New Hampshire, but many of the jobs generated in the wake of the Recession offer workers less in compensation than those lost during the economic contraction.

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State Funding for Higher Education Still Below Pre-Recession Levels

August 30, 2017 Common Cents
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Student loan debt is the second largest source of U.S household debt, surpassing auto loans and credit card debt and only eclipsed by mortgages. Nationally, student loans totaled $1.34 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. State policies can have a role in reducing tuition costs students face at public institutions, but a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggests states may not be devoting as many resources to containing higher education expenses for students as they did prior to the Great Recession. In New Hampshire, the State government allocates relatively few dollars to public higher education by certain key metrics compared to all other states, and average student debt loads are also the highest compared to those in other states.

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Medicaid to Schools: A Small Aspect of Medicaid but an Immense Resource for NH Schools

August 14, 2017 Common Cents
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Medicaid is an important program for many of New Hampshire’s children, and the schools those children attend serve as key providers of medical services for their students. The Medicaid to Schools program, which allows schools to enroll as healthcare providers and receive federal reimbursements for providing Medicaid services, helps thousands of New Hampshire children through a variety of on- and off-site services, ranging from school nurses to speech therapists and other medical specialists. Many of these services are legally required, and the Medicaid to Schools program helps pay for them.

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Job Growth Slowed in New Hampshire During 2017

11 Jun 2018

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The rate jobs were added to the economy in New Hampshire during 2017 was considerably lower than during 2016, suggesting fewer additional jobs are being filled in the state. This slowing in job growth from the higher levels seen during 2015 and 2016 may reflect that, in a growing economy with a low unemployment rate, many employers are having difficulty finding workers to fill positions.