AUGUSTA, Maine (AP)   The state says Maine’s unemployment rate is the lowest in more than four decades.

The unemployment rate dropped to 2.9 percent in February, a slight drop from February 2017. The state had an 8.2 percent unemployment rate in February 2010.

Republican Gov. Paul LePage says the state’s also seeing high numbers of private sector jobs and evidence of wages ticking up.

The governor is backing tax conformity and student debt proposals he says will attract younger people.

Washington County’s unemployment rate dropped from 6.5 percent in February 2017 to 5.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the more affluent Cumberland County had an unemployment rate of 2.4 percent, compared with 2.9 percent in February 2017.