CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s unemployment rate for March was 3%, a decrease of three-tenths of a percentage point from February, officials said Tuesday.

The March 2020 seasonally adjusted rate, reported before the coronavirus pandemic, was 2.7%.

Seasonally adjusted estimates for March placed the number of employed residents at 736,460, a decrease of 50 from the previous month and a decrease of 11,840 from March 2020, the New Hampshire Employment Security office said in a news release. The number of unemployed residents decreased by 1,820 over-the-month, to 22,940. This was 2,340 more unemployed than in March 2020. From February 2021 to March 2021, the total labor force decreased by 1,870 to 759,400. This was a decrease of 9,500 from March 2020.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March was 6%, decrease of two tenths of a percentage point from February, and an increase of 1.6 percentage points from March 2020.

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