Counties with the highest unemployment in New Hampshire

The first jobs report fully under the new Trump administration showed a softening job market, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.1% in February, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures released March 7.

Job growth increased but fell below expectations, one of several possible fissures appearing in the once rock-solid labor market. Businesses are pulling back on hiring as the economic forecast and policy outlook grow murkier due to volatile trade policies and large cuts to the federal workforce.

Federal government employment fell by 10,000 in February, pushing up total cuts to the federal workforce. In the first two months of 2025, 62,530 federal workers were let go. However, the most recent cuts, including the Department of Education's workforce getting slashed by nearly half, have not yet appeared in official jobs data. Retail employment also fell by 6,000.

The broader unemployment index, known as the U-6, which also includes laborers working part-time because they can't find full-time work, and those who want to work but have given up searching, rose to 8%, its highest since October 2021.

To get a glimpse of regional variations in employment, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in New Hampshire, using BLS data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in January 2025, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Key takeaways: Jobs report shows softening labor market

February's job growth of 151,000 fell below economists' expected gains of 160,000, showing the labor market is cooling faster than predicted. Experts say many companies weighing policy changes and economic uncertainty are deciding it's safer to hold off on hiring decisions for now.

"If you were a company and you were saying, 'I'm looking to expand, or I'm looking to hire,' you would have investors in those companies saying, 'Are you crazy?'" Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, told Marketplace.

Consumer spending fell in January for the first time in two years, which may have led to layoffs or hiring slowdowns, Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, told NBC News.

The big story: From bold promises to frozen labor market

After an initial market pop following Trump's electoral win, indexes have slumped to below when he took office, and uncertainty about the future of the markets is a common theme. Are threatened tariffs in place, delayed, reversed, or ramped up? Has that federal worker been fired or given their job back? Are those federal dollars slashed or reinstated? It's a question mark that changes daily.

Research shows that uncertainty invites lower investment, slows employment, and increases financial market volatility. The word "uncertain" showed up 47 times in the March edition of the Beige Book, the Federal Reserve's snapshot of reports from across the nation, compared to 17 times in the previous report from January.

The new administration's blitz of executive orders and trade policy waffling have cast a dense fog over the short-term economic outlook. One thing that is known? Uncertainty isn't good for business planning, job creation, or hiring.

In a March 12 interview with Semafor, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon noted that average consumers likely don't change "what they're going to do because they read about tariffs," but "companies might."

"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added.

To get a better idea of your community's current economy, read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in New Hampshire.

10. Grafton County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.5%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 49,198 people (1,244 unemployed)

9. Strafford County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 77,386 people (2,126 unemployed)

7. Sullivan County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.6 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 21,630 people (606 unemployed)

7. Merrimack County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 2.8%
--- 1-month change: +0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 84,279 people (2,391 unemployed)

6. Carroll County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.1%
--- 1-month change: +0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 25,384 people (779 unemployed)

4. Cheshire County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 40,317 people (1,275 unemployed)

4. Belknap County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.2%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 33,109 people (1,066 unemployed)

3. Coos County

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
--- 1-month change: +0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 14,963 people (512 unemployed)

1. Rockingham County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 188,460 people (6,989 unemployed)

1. Hillsborough County (tie)

- January unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.7%
--- 1-month change: +0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: +1.0 percentage points
- Total labor force: 245,583 people (9,144 unemployed)

This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani, writing by Ben Popken, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.