Maine: Ed Gorham

AUGUSTA, Maine — A federal Bureau of Labor Statistics survey may provide a more accurate picture of the state’s unemployment situation than the “official” rate released monthly by the Maine Department of Labor.

The state’s figures are based primarily on the numbers of people receiving unemployment insurance, but new data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics could broaden the state’s view.

Todd Gabe, an economist at the University of Maine, said the federal survey, which was started in 2007, measures areas such as people who have been unemployed longer than 15 weeks; workers whose temporary jobs are completed; workers who have part-time jobs and cannot find full-time work; and a growing sector — “discouraged” workers, those who have been unemployed for a long time and possibly have given up searching for work because they may be convinced there is nothing available.

Ed Gorham, president of Maine’s chapter of the AFL-CIO, had one word to describe Employee Freedom’s ads: Despicable.

“We appreciate the concern of the group that Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola is financing,” Gorham said. “But they’ve never been friends of working people.”