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New Hampshire Local Area Unemployment Statistics
Highlights – December 2019 Estimates
(Note: Rates are not seasonally adjusted)
- The December 2019 not seasonally adjusted State unemployment rate was 2.3 percent. This was unchanged from the November rate. The December 2018 rate was 2.1 percent.
- New Hampshire’s December 2019 not seasonally adjusted labor force estimates show 14,960 more employed and 1,760 more unemployed than in December 2018 for a year-to-year net gain in the labor force of 16,720.
- Sixteen areas recorded rates below the statewide not seasonally adjusted average of 2.3 percent:
- New Hampshire portion of the Lebanon NH-VT Micropolitan New England City and Town Area – 1.7 percent
- Concord NH Micropolitan New England City and Town Area – 1.9 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Conway NH-ME Labor Market Area – 1.9 percent
- New London NH Labor Market Area – 1.9 percent
- Newport NH Labor Market Area – 2.0 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Portsmouth NH-ME Metropolitan New England City and Town Area – 2.0 percent
- Charlestown NH Labor Market Area – 2.1 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Dover-Durham NH-ME Metropolitan New England City and Town Area – 2.1 percent
- Hillsborough NH Labor Market Area – 2.1 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Littleton NH-VT Labor Market Area – 2.1 percent
- Manchester NH Metropolitan New England City and Town Area – 2.1 percent
- Meredith NH Labor Market Area – 2.1 percent
- Plymouth NH Labor Market Area – 2.1 percent
- Belmont NH Labor Market Area – 2.2 percent
- Franklin NH Labor Market Area – 2.2 percent
- Raymond NH Labor Market Area – 2.2 percent
- Ten areas recorded rates at or above the statewide not seasonally adjusted average of 2.3 percent:
- Haverhill NH Labor Market Area – 2.3 percent
- Keene NH Micropolitan New England City and Town Area – 2.3 percent
- Peterborough NH Labor Market Area – 2.3 percent
- Claremont, NH Micropolitan New England City, and Town Area – 2.4 percent
- Wolfeboro NH Labor Market Area – 2.4 percent
- Laconia NH Micropolitan New England City and Town Area – 2.5 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Colebrook NH-VT Labor Market Area – 2.6 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Nashua NH-MA New England City and Town Area Division – 2.6 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury MA-NH New England City and Town Area Division – 2.8 percent
- Berlin NH Micropolitan New England City and Town Area – 3.4 percent
- The New Hampshire portion of three interstate labor market areas contain only one town:
- New Hampshire portion of the Lawrence-Methuen-Salem MA-NH New England City and Town Area Division (Salem town) – 3.0 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford MA-NH New England City and Town Area Division (Pelham town) – 3.2 percent
- New Hampshire portion of the Brattleboro VT-NH Labor Market Area (Hinsdale town) – 3.6 percent
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- Written by Patrick R. McElhiney
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DURHAM, N.H.— Lawns have long played a role in neighborhood status and appeal to prospective buyers. But they can also be an important piece of the ecological picture when it comes to carbon storage—the prevention of releasing carbon into the atmosphere that can increase global warming. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that when looking more closely at carbon storage in the soil of urban homes, the older the home, the more carbon stored underground.
“People may not think the small ecosystem around their home, the grass, soil, and vegetation is providing a service to society,” said Alexandra Contosta, research assistant professor at UNH’s Earth Systems Research Center. “But the key to meaningful ecological carbon storage may be as close as their own backyard.”
In their study, recently published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning, researchers from UNH and the U.S. Forest Service went digging for answers in yards of city dwellers. Because urban areas are important for understanding the global carbon cycle that can affect climate change, they wanted to see whether they could detect patterns of carbon storage within people’s yards. They focused on lawns in a smaller city (Manchester) and included a suite of variables such as housing age, population density, income, home value, percentage of married couples and how long residents had lived in the house. They found the largest contributing factor when it came to higher carbon storage underground was the age of the house.
“We were surprised that socioeconomic traits didn’t play a larger role,” said Contosta. “The only thing that seemed to matter was time.”
In contrast, carbon storage above ground by trees was more related to income, lifestyle, residents’ age and marital status, with housing age playing a secondary role. Housing age seemed to matter more when the tree was under 50 years of age. After that, trees on lawns with older houses tended to store less carbon. Such gardening practices as tree trimming, tree removal, and even tree planting may have also played a role.
“What it showed us is that one size does not fit all,” said Contosta. “And, when it comes to individuals interested in doing their part by helping to increase carbon storage in their own yard, there may be more than one option.”
The researchers say understanding the nuances of carbon storage in city lawns is critical for urban planning, policy-making, and management. It highlights the need for a variety of approaches tailored to protecting and enhancing urban carbon storage and minimizing carbon loss.
This study was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Carbon Cycle Science Program.
The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation, and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health, and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. As one of the nation’s highest-performing research universities, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and receives more than $110 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.
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Esther Sawyer CPA, LLC has been identified as was one of Barrington's Best Businesses for the category of Giving Back. The owners – Chris and Esther Sawyer are engaged in multiple facets of giving back to our local and national community.
For the Sawyers Faith and Family Comes first. Esther was born in Guyana and still has family in that area. Guyana is known for its violent crime, such as armed robbery and murder, which is common. Local police lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents.
Over the years both she and Chris has sponsored many of her family members to come over legally in The United States. Not only do they sponsor those family members, but they help them to obtain jobs homes and education if necessary. They don't just give them the one thing (a ticket out), they provide them with the infrastructure that they need to be successful. In July they sponsored her youngest sister with her two children. She has gone to LNA school, is now employed, and her children are excelling in school.
Chris is a Navy Veteran with 8 years of service which included combat in Lebanon and has been sober for 25 years. He was recently asked to speak at an Alanon meeting as a person in recovery, educating family members of alcoholics and addicts on the recovery process. He considers AA as a community and therefore, a part of his family. He still attends meetings, speaks and helps other AA individuals. He's very engaged and involved with The Triangle Club in Dover and helping people to become better, and have a firm foundation for restoring and repairing their lives. Chris and his church team participate in the Annual 5K Spirit of Recovery Race, which is a core fundraiser for the Triangle Club.
They've participated in the NH Seacoast Project Linus blanket events with their church. This is a community event (the next one is scheduled for November 14th) where new sew fleece blankets are created and then dropped off at the Joanne Fabrics drop off-site. Blankets are distributed to children in need, including at homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, and hospitals.
As a family, they have gone to the Strafford County Homeless Center and cooked meals for the residents. They try to do this in times where there's a greater need. During the warmer months, there are traditionally fewer people in the shelter, so while the need is still there it is not as apparent. During the wintertime, people need more connections. The Sawyer’s go in and create a whole meal to help the occupants to feel encouraged and valued. They give the community “hugs” to show them they are valued and loved.
Chris and Esther are also very engaged in the local American Legion. Chris is the finance officer. Esther is the president of the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary. As leaders, they tried to identify more veterans to bring into the organization. It's not just a social club. The American Legion has a mission:
“It is the nation's largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow servicemembers and veterans. “
From https://www.legion.org/mission
Chris and Esther view their many activities as a way of identifying people in need. It provides them with a way to surround these people with the community and lift them up. Veterans especially, service to our country should never be forgotten. The Sawyers exemplify these beliefs by helping other people. In their Church, they're very active in Leadership and engaged in many Outreach programs. From youth leadership to communications, they are present and involved as partners to help their church thrive and grow.
Whatever the Sawyers participate in is a family event with their daughter Xena. They go as a unit to help wherever they can. Both Esther and Chris are encouragers and investors in people, and they have taught their daughters to be the same. The Sawyers doesn't just temporarily help a person. They don't hand them a fish. They teach them another way to live.
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- Written by Patrick R. McElhiney
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DURHAM, N.H.— When the new Solar Orbiter blasts off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in early February, it will carry with it an instrument designed and built by researchers from the University of New Hampshire Space Science Center (SSC) to study the Earth’s closest star, the sun. The international mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with NASA will focus on the heliosphere — the bubble-like region of space that surrounds the solar system. It will provide data to help scientists gain an even deeper understanding of the solar wind, solar eruptions, and the sun’s magnetic field which all influence space weather and can impact astronauts, spacecraft, satellites, and communication technologies.
“The Solar Orbiter is unique from other missions in that it will focus on the higher latitudes of the sun and will have the ability to co-rotate with the sun and fix on points of interest for longer periods of time, providing more detailed information about specific regions,” says Antoinette Galvin, professor of physics and lead UNH co-investigator on one of the particle detectors on the Solar Orbiter. “This mission will not only build on the success of previous missions but also hopefully help predict forthcoming solar storms that may impact humans and technology.”
UNH’s research involved 43 faculty, staff, and students all assisting in the development of the time-of-flight subsection of the Heavy Ion Sensor (HIS), which will detect solar wind particles such as oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon and provide data on their charged state to indicate from what part of the sun they originated. UNH’s SSC Assembly Lab and the Morse Hall Machine Shop helped to fabricate components, ran exhaustive simulations, tested prototypes in vacuum conditions, and ran several sub-assembly stress tests, so the unit would not only detect the proper particles but also withstand the stress of launch.
HIS is a collaboration between UNH, the Southwest Research Institute, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of Michigan, and the University of Bern, Switzerland and is one portion of the Solar Wind Analyzer instrument — one of ten instruments aboard the Solar Orbiter.
The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation, and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. As one of the nation’s highest-performing research universities, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and receives more than $110 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea, and space.
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