Already reeling from recent bad news in rankings on national scales when it comes to educational performance and overall tax burden per citizen, Maine received more discouraging news this week when the Maine Jobs Council unveiled the results of a recent study: Maine now ranks among the least productive states in America.
According the study conducted by the Washington, DC-based Porter Development Initiative, Maine ranks 46th in the nation for Gross Domestic Product per worker (and 41st for GDP per capita). While the average national annual salary in 2023 was $67,692, Maine trailed this by over $13,000 at $53,876, the report found.
The problem is not necessarily labor force participation, the report suggests, which in December last year was nearly 60 percent — up slightly from the previous year. Instead, these issues seem more connected to the state’s economic environment.
[RELATED: Maine Lagged Behind New England Neighbors in Workforce Participation at the End of 2024]
Among the reasons cited by the report for Maine’s lagging productivity are higher cost burdens, a mismatch between employer needs and skills available in the labor market, rising cost of living relative to incomes, lower access to capital, low innovation and scant research and development capacity.
None of this should be startling to those who have been tracking Maine’s beleaguered business environment. Last summer, as news broke that Maine then ranked the ninth worst state in America for doing business, Maine Jobs Council Executive Director Joe Edwards said:
“Workforce also remained an important category, and our ranking plunged from 22 to 46. Workforce, productivity, investment, taxes and infrastructure are all categories that impact prosperity, growth, employment and quality of life. Maine is in a very select group of states that score poorly in all of these categories.”
That statement preceded the implementation of yet another new tax on employers, the state’s Family Leave and Medical Program, which went into effect this January. So while Porter Development Initiative appears to have been based on 2023 data sets, more recent ones could drag Maine even further towards the absolute back of the pack.
What Maine needs, the external consultants suggest, is an economic policy that better positions Maine to compete in both domestic and global markets.
“A critical first step is for us to set aside our differences and work together to do whatever it takes for Maine to compete successfully for talent, jobs and investment,” Edwards said of the report.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="36437 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=36437">14 Comments
Congratulations! Fentanyl and free needles for everyone! Thanks janet, you did this.
maines transportstion system is shit, taxes and electricty high. its a differant state north and south of bangor. good jobs are never coming. we are slaves to tourist dollars, and people with money from away that move here. our puppet politicans have destroyed the fishing industry. the logging industry in tapped, shortage of trees. its going to take a depression to change things…
And the voters keep electing more fu*king democrats .
We just can’t fix stupid .
In Bangor I smell marijuana being consumed more often than tobacco when we walk alongside a fairly busy street. As a former cigarette smoker I have a nose like a bloodhound and oddly find occasional cigarette smoke sort of nostalgic. We also tour in Mexico by car/motorcycle about one month every year and rarely if ever smell marijuana being consumed there.
Lowest in productivity? This has been a creeping problem since Maine stopped having real republican administrations (think Paul LePage)……. I’ve been in Maine since the 1960’s, and I remember when employers from out of state used to savor getting Maine workers, who they thought were specially self motivated and awesome workers because of our independent way of life up here at the edge of civilization.. We have lost that reputation, and are now considered a welfare state, loaded with freeloaders from away and lost generations of non-workers receiving state handouts for their votes. That is a heavy load to now have to carry.
I would never start a business in Maine. This is the drunkest place I have ever lived, and the workforce is absolute shite.
Janet and her team spent big bucks against Rick Savage, former owner of the Sunday River Brew Pub, who only wanted to make a living and pay people a decent wage. He had to sell because of Mills harassment against him and his business. She care nothing about money…as long as it’s not hers.
When Maine NIMBYs harassed even what appeared to be a relatively “green” industry like a salmon farm in Belfast there’s little in the way of commerce that Maine’s very vocal NIMBY movement would allow. Maine is a residential economy – driven by retirees that came here and wanted an idyllic existence without mills and factories.
Mill-o-Nomics. She must be so proud. When I go for walks I see so many discarded pot containers. I am assuming pre-rolled or something like that. Has the stores name on it. I raised my kids in the woods of Oregon and they had/have some really shitty politicians, Maine is worse. Sucks, especially now that I am just too old to move again.
I’m perplexed by some native Mainers hatred of people from “away.” I’ve observed lots of motivated people make a lot of money providing services to wealthier retirees. As someone once said, you’ll never get a job from a poor person. There’s lots of money to be made in landscaping, construction, HVAC, car and boat repair and anything related to outdoor recreation. You don’t want to do those things, leave Maine. But don’t complain. It’s a free country. People can live where they want to. It’s funny that Texans and Floridians don’t complain obsessively about outsiders.
We moved here “from away” and we’ve not found hatred. We love Maine and don’t want to change anything. It’s a beautiful state and the people are kind up here in The County. We didn’t bring big city attitude or wacko ideology with us. That being said, I’m glad we don’t live downstate. We don’t like Mills or boys in girls sports and we believe there are only two genders. There are a few ( ok, several ) politicians that need to go but Mainers we know seem to agree with that.
That’s the way socialist states exist, off the hard work of others.
Maine, “The Way Life Is”!
So, let’s improve things. Start with lower energy costs (Screw the GREEN LIE) pull in gas lines and re-nuke Yankee,get rid of General Mills, (the old bag law bag) , have Golden declare as a Republican, then get rid of Windmill Angus and Susie the “Please don’t send me back to my Hardware business ” Collins.
What a Sad State Maine Has Become!
How bout Maine stop burning its own out. Start right there