CONCORD: New Hampshire continues to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. In December, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.6 percent. But the state continues to suffer from a lack of workers. In December, the state had 724,950 employed residents, a decrease of 130 from the previous month and a decrease of 9,220 from December 2020, according to New Hampshire Employment Security.

MANCHESTER: Manchester-Boston Regional Airport recorded nearly 50 percent more passengers in 2021 than in 2020, but still lags behind 2019 numbers. The airport reported 944,147 total passengers in 2021, up 48.7 percent from the 634,841 passengers in 2020, when the airline industry experienced a 95-percent drop in demand over a three-week period because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the airport’s passenger totals remain 44.4 percent lower than 2019 when the airport reported it had 1,698,109 passengers.

CONCORD: Longtime New Hampshire prosecutor Jane Young, currently the state’s deputy attorney general, has been nominated by President Biden to the U.S. attorney for the district of New Hampshire. Young has served in numerous roles in the Attorney General’s Office since 1992, including as director of the Division of Public Protection, chief of the Criminal Justice Bureau and chief of the drug unit. The nomination must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

CONCORD: New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella has joined a coalition of attorneys general in 42 states and territories urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to preserve state authority to enforce their consumer protection laws in connection with the sale of over-thecounter hearing aids. The FDA is considering a proposal that would establish for the first time a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids that could be sold directly to consumers without a medical exam or fitting by an audiologist. All 50 states have professional licensing requirements for selling hearing aids, and many states have protections for hearing aid consumers, including mandatory warranties and returns and advertising restrictions, the AGs wrote in a letter.

CONCORD: Smokers Haven, a chain of 10 smoke shops in New Hampshire, has agreed to pay $50,000 in punitive damages and back pay to a worker who was fired after asking to be paid overtime, the New Hampshire Department of Labor said. Before meeting with his employer in September, the worker had contacted the department’s Wage and Hour Division to discuss his overtime pay concerns, the department said in a news release. The worker then complained to the business owner about not being paid properly for overtime hours worked, and was fired. The department alleged Smokers Haven owner violated anti-retaliation, overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

RAYMOND: The Regional Economic Development Center of Southern New Hampshire is offering a new financing resource for small businesses through a partnership with Kiva, an international nonprofit that aims to expand financial access to under-served communities through zero-interest crowdfunded loans. KIVA offers loans between $1,000 and $15,000 at 0 percent interest, with no fees and extended grace periods for repayment. For information, visit redc.com/kiva.

CONCORD: The Rite Aid drug store chain has agreed to pay $30,000 in penalties to resolve allegations it violated the Controlled Substances Act when its pharmacists filled forged prescriptions at a store in Manchester, federal officials said. In the agreement, Rite Aid agreed to pay $30,000 to resolve allegations its pharmacists filled 15 forged prescriptions for the same individual at its location on Mammoth Road between October 2016 and March 2018. Rite Aid denied liability in the matter and cooperated with the government’s investigation, federal officials said.