AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) Maine labor officials say the unemployment rate in the state continues to hold steady, and has ranged between 3.2% and 3.5% over the past two years.

The Maine Department of Labor says the preliminary unemployment rate for June was 3.2%. The department says unemployment in the state has been less than 4% for 42 consecutive months, which is the longest such period on record.

This stretch of low unemployment is almost twice as long as the last one. The state experienced a 22-month stretch of unemployment below 4% that ended in June 2001.

Unemployment has also held steady nationally, as the U.S. rate of 3.7% for June was close to the 3.6% for May and the 4% rate from June 2018. New England’s six-state estimate is 3.1%.