Maine's recreational sand beaches help attract millions of tourists each year. By bringing dollars into the state, these beaches support the local economy. The following helps clarify the connection between Maine beaches and the economy.
 
Maine recreational beaches represent a small part of the Maine landscape. Most of Maine's coast is rocky, with limited access. Out of the nearly 3,500 miles of tidal coastline, there are less than 40 miles of sandy beach. [1]
 
Despite their small size, sand beaches are a very popular destination. According to the Maine Department of Conservation nearly 620,000 trips were made to ocean beach state parks in 2007. This is equal to 27% of the estimated visits to all state parks. [2] Traffic data from the Maine Turnpike Authority also shows a large increase in traffic to beach towns during the summer. In 2007 the exits for towns in southern Maine that have a beach (Wells, Kennebunk, Biddeford, and Saco) had a combined average daily traffic of more than 90,000 vehicles in August. This is a 46% increase over average traffic in January, the month of lowest traffic, and 26% above the annual average. [3]
 
All of these visitors bring a lot of money into the state.  Based on a survey for the Maine Office of Tourism, in 2006, out-of-state visitors spent $4.9 billion. For each dollar an inn, Maine guide, or antique shop earns from a tourist, there are subsequent rounds of spending in the local economy. In 2006 the combined spending by out-of-state visitors and Maine overnight travelers, which also provides a base for other economic activity, resulted in $10 billion of direct and indirect sales and supported 139,000 jobs. [4]
 
A rough measure of the amount of tourist activity attributed to beaches is possible using the tourism survey data. In 2006, 13% of the overnight vacationers and 9% of the day visitors said that their primary destination was an ocean beach. Of the $2.1 billion in spending by overnight vacationers, beach visitors spent $260 million. The combined direct tourist sales and the additional local sales supported by adding tourist dollars to the local economy is over $500 million. All of the tourist dollars support more than 8,000 jobs. This estimate provides a minimum measure of the economic activity supported by beaches. It does not include spending by day or overnight visitors that went to the beach but did not consider it their primary destination. In the survey, 40% of the out-of-state overnight visitors said they went to an ocean beach during their trip. [5]
 
Although this only provides a rough measure of the value of beaches it is clear that they are a substantial asset for the state.

[1] Maine Geological Survey Website FAQ
[2] Maine Department of Conservation, provided by Jim Crocker, 5/6/08
[3] Maine Turnpike Authority, 6/23/08
[4] Maine Office of Tourism. (July 2007) Travel and Tourism in Maine 2006 Visitors Study.
[5] Maine Office of Tourism. (July 2007) Travel and Tourism in Maine 2006 Visitors Study. And Bureau of Economic Analysis RIMS II multipliers 2005.

Maine beach image courtesy of Maine Office of Tourism.

 

This June, the cost of food and beverages for US consumers was over 5% higher than just one year ago, according to the US Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index. That is the highest increase since 1990. The cost of some staple foods, like cereals and fresh fruits and vegetables increased even more sharply, 10% and 7% respectively. Households in Maine, across the US, and around the world, have struggled to adjust to this unexpected and unwelcomed event.
 
The root causes of the price increases are varied and complex, but roughly fall into three categories.
 
 
Demand for crops used in biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel has begun to compete with food production. The OECD and UN estimate that use of biofuels accounted for over half the increase of world grain use between 2005 and 2007. At the same time, adverse weather conditions in Australia and Canada, two of the world's leading agricultural producers, decreased crop yields.
 
 
 
For a more complete discussion of this issue, see "Agricultural Outlook 2008-2017" by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN), available online at www.oecd.org/dataoecd/54/15/40715381.pdf.

 

From the grocery store to the evening news, the price of oil is on everyone's mind. With gasoline prices averaging over $4 this summer and pre-pay contracts for home heating oil approaching $5.00/gallon, it's no wonder. The question everyone is asking is: Why are oil prices so high?
 
1. Demand. The high oil prices we're seeing reflect the fact that world energy use is increasing at unprecedented levels, particularly from developing countries. Between 2004 and 2007, world oil consumption has increased 4%, driven by the strongest world GDP growth in 20 years. The developing economies of China, India, and the Middle East account for two-thirds of the increase in consumption.
 
2. Supply. Coupled with the rise in consumption has been a tightened global supply. Non OPEC countries have been struggling to increase their capacity to produce oil. OPEC, too, is having trouble increasing production: their "spare capacity" - essentially how much more oil they could produce - is at historically low levels. This creates additional price volatility as buyers worry about real or perceived shortages.
 
3. Risk. Geopolitical tensions are putting further upward pressure on prices, in effect adding a "risk premium" to the already high price of oil. Current conflicts in Nigeria and Iraq, and potential conflicts in Iran and Venezuela cause buyers to worry that their supply needs won't be met at a reasonable cost.
 
4. Price Controls. Almost all of the increase in oil consumption this year is projected to be from countries which keep oil at prices below market value. In these countries, where the government pays or subsidizes part of its citizens' costs for oil, demand will remain artificially high, despite historically high global prices, further contributing to the rise in oil prices.
 
5. The Dollar. In general, the price of oil rises as the value of the dollar falls. Since oil is priced in dollars, a falling dollar means a decline in purchasing power for oil producing countries, who, if possible, will seek to offset this by raising prices.
 
6. Speculation. A final contribution to high oil prices often talked about is the significant increase in speculators and investors into the oil futures market. The sheer volume (the number of oil traders has doubled since 2004 while the number of contracts bought and sold has tripled) has played a role in the recent run-up of prices.
 
In summary, there are a number of reasons why oil prices are on the rise. In the short run, it is a difficult time for everyone relying on oil-based products such as gasoline or heating fuel. In the long run, we can hope that this price spike encourages energy efficiency and the development of alternate energy sources such as wind and solar, leading to cheaper and cleaner energy.

 

 

On June 27, 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2006 County Business Patterns. The County Business Patterns are an annual series that provide economic data by industry for states, counties, metropolitan areas, and ZIP codes.

Data include the number of employees for the week including March 12, 2006, the first quarter and annual payroll, the total number of establishments, and the number of establishments by employment size class. County Business Patterns allow users to compare geographies (such as all states within the U.S. or all counties within Maine), compare industries within a particular geography, and look at detailed industry data for most geographies. Users can look at trends in industries over time - data have been published according to the North American Industry Classification System since 1998. There are some limitations to the data, however: the County Business Patterns exclude data on the self-employed, employees of private households, railroad employees, agricultural production employees, and most government employees.

For Maine, the largest industry sector in 2006 was health care and social assistance, with 101,078 employees during the week including March 12.

 
For more information, visit the County Business Patterns website.