A couple of weeks ago, the Chamber Collaborative of Portsmouth invited me to talk about the state economy during a forum that featured people who have a much firmer grasp on the data than I do.

I tried to fill in the blanks with some stories during my 10-minute stint. Here are some of the nuggets I shared along with material that didn’t make the cut.

Drive-time economics

My Lyft driver has the theory that more drivers are becoming weekend warriors and driving for Uber and Lift, perhaps to shore up their savings. He has more competition these days, and that’s cutting into his profits.

He told me this during my 10-minute ride home from the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport after a recent trip to Florida, during which he spent the entire time telling me how terrible Lyft was and how he was only going to make about $7 from my fare. I tipped him anyway.

Secrets of the chair

On the chairlift at Loon Mountain Resort recently, I heard a couple of millennials complaining about how their employers were starting to push them to return to the office after many months of remote working since the pandemic. One said it was because some people were abusing the policy and that those co-workers would be ruining it for everybody.

Certain uncertainty

When I hear economists say the markets hate uncertainty, I cringe. The markets respond to uncertainty every day. And we always have plenty of uncertainty. Right now, it includes wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East, a presidential election that could test the strength of our democracy, and the impact of artificial intelligence on business and culture.

Here’s what we know with a fair amount of certainty: People will go nuts wherever Taylor Swift shows up.

Also, economists were wrong about a looming recession. They predict a “soft landing” both in the United States and worldwide, as long as our luck continues to hold out. It’s hard to get too excited about gross domestic product growth of less than 1%, but we’ll take it.

Truth to power, and gasoline

Energy prices are stabilizing, with gasoline under $3 a gallon in many communities. A recent story by Bloomberg noted that U.S. crude oil and gas production has never been higher. Wind and solar energy output growth is expected to have jumped 76% since 2021 by the end of this year.

Our electric utilities recently announced a reduction in their rates. With New Hampshire having one of the highest energy bills in the country, some relief is certainly welcome by both consumers and major energy users, such as our manufacturing sector.

Inflation also is tapering off. While food prices rose 25% over the past four years, the rate of inflation slowed last year to about 6%. Grocery shoppers and the hospitality industry are still dealing with high costs, though I can’t remember the last time I saw a restaurant menu that included a surcharge. I think everyone has updated their menus by now.

Work in progress

Our workforce woes are about the same as they were when I moved back to New Hampshire more than a decade ago. New Hampshire’s unemployment rate, at 2.5% in December, continues to be one of the lowest in the country.

The size of our workforce continues to be a problem. As of December, the total labor force was 762,160 — a decrease of 7,070 from December 2022. As we aim to attract more employers to New Hampshire, that’s a big stumbling block.

Home stretch

The supply of housing continues to be a drag on our economy. While rental prices nationwide have stabilized and even declined, affordability remains a major challenge.

My mother raised four children by herself in a third-floor apartment on the West Side of Manchester. I don’t know about whether the current owner has done any upgrades inside, but the exterior looks about the same as it did 50 years ago.

My mom was lucky. Her cousin owned the building and only charged her $100 a month, which adjusted for inflation in 2024 would be about $675. Zillow says a three-bedroom unit on that building would rent for about $2,000 a month now.

We do see a glimmer of change. The state says there was an 18% increase in residential building permits issued statewide in 2022 compared to 2021, adding 5,800 units to the housing supply.

The report by the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs included a chart that showed building permits bottomed out in 2011, when only about 2,000 were issued, and for the most part have been climbing steady since then.

But that same chart showed there were more than 9,000 issued in 2004.

We have a lot more building to do.

MHT adds flights, new airline

Chalk up a couple of more wins for Manchester-Boston Regional Airport Director Ted Kitchens.

Avelo Airlines is adding a twice-weekly nonstop flight from MHT to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in North Carolina on May 10. The airline also plans to expand its existing route to Raleigh-Durham International Airport from twice a week to four times beginning May 2.

MHT welcomes another new airline Aug. 22, when Sun Country Airlines debuts nonstop service to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

It’s easy to be a cheerleader for MHT when the new routes hit home: The Greenville flight will cut the drive time from the nearest airport to my youngest son’s home outside Ashville by a half-hour. I’m also overdue to visit my sister in Durham.

And I have a college buddy in Minneapolis whom I haven’t seen in years.

Keep’em coming MHT. (Hey, Southwest, how about bringing back that nonstop flight to Denver.)

Mike Cote is editor of NH Business Review and New Hampshire Magazine.