State jobless rate creeps up to 5.7 percent

New Hampshire’s preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 5.7 percent, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from July, New Hampshire Employment Security reported Tuesday.

The August 2011 seasonally adjusted rate was 5.5 percent. Seasonally adjusted estimates for August 2012 placed the number of employed residents at 695,990, a decrease of 3,540 from the previous month and a decrease of 1,040 from August 2011.

The number of unemployed residents increased by 1,700 from July to 41,870, and the total labor force decreased by 1,840 to 737,860.