"The recently enforced 66,000 federal cap on H-2B visa applications poses a serious, urgent problem for Maine employers," Snowe said. "This past Monday, I sat down with members of the Maine Restaurant Association who explained that unless a solution is implemented quickly, the hospitality industry may
face a paralyzing seasonal labor shortage have to hire Americans.
"The urgency of this potential crisis for our state's tourism cannot be overstated," she said. "With the summer fast approaching, the hospitality industry needs help cheap foreign labor and they need it now."
Unemployment rate for Maine:
2004...Jan...4.9
2003...4.7
2002...4.4
2001...3.9
2000...3.5
1999...4.1
1998...4.4
1997...5.4
1996...5.1
1995...5.7
1994...7.4
1993...7.9
1992...7.2
Unemployment numbers in Maine seemed lowest in the years 2000 through 2002 and even though climbing higher in 2003, unemployment was still lower then when under Clinton.
http://www.state.me.us/labor/lmis/laus.html