New Hampshire had the lowest level of expansion with a growth rate of 0.8 percent. With the exception of Rhode Island, which recorded a small loss in manufacturing, the goods and services industries gained jobs in all of the States. The unemployment rate in New England was down to 2.4 percent in November 2000, from 3.2 percent in November 1999. At 1.7 and 1.8 percent, respectively, Connecticut and New Hampshire had two of the lowest rates in the Nation. Through December 2000, residential construction, as measured by building permits, was down 7 percent in the region compared with 1999.
Multifamily permits are also down compared with last year and with last quarter.
Lower levels of single-family activity reflect the tight labor market in the building trades, lack of available sites, and the increased interest rates. Every State recorded lower sales except Maine, where sales were up 7 percent. According to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the New England region had the highest percentage increase in median prices in the Nation, up 11.9 percent from the third quarter of 1999 to third quarter of 2000. Massachusetts again had the highest percentage increase, 14.2 percent, in the region and the Nation. All of the New England States ranked in the top 12 in the Nation for appreciation.