Take 5: health care coverage, eye surgery and unemployment situation

NH Business Review's biweekly snapshot of business and industry statistics

MOST Americans (66%) say the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care coverage. Far fewer (33%) say it does not, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Thirty-five percent of respondents favor a single national health insurance system run by the government, and 31% say insurance should continue to be provided through a mix of private companies and government programs.

A new poll conducted by the UNH Survey Center found that, of the thousands of NH residents surveyed, 76% oppose legislation allowing non-medical doctors to perform eye surgery, while only 8% support the measure. This comes in response to HB 349, a bill that would allow optometrists, who are not medical doctors, to perform certain laser eye surgeries.

ACCORDING to a new study by Polecon Research, banks in New Hampshire reinvest deposits into their local communities at the highest levels in the nation, according to the FDIC. Banks in New Hampshire support over 17,260 jobs, paying $1.02 billion in wages and benefits. Banks also contributed $127 million in 2024 state and local tax revenues and donated nearly $15 million in charitable causes in 2025.

THE unemployment situation in New Hampshire is improving, with last week’s claims 32.43% lower than in the previous week and 29.55% lower than last year, according to WalletHub’s updated rankings for the States Where Unemployment Claims Are Decreasing the Most. The Granite State ranked in second for the number of unemployment claims, 38, per 100,000 people in labor force.

A new survey from AIResume-Builder.com reveals growing frustration among hiring managers as they grapple with AI-generated resumes. Among those hiring managers surveyed, 61% say AI resumes frequently make candidates appear more qualified than they actually are. As a result, 62% have fired employees after discovering their real-world skills didn’t match their AI-inflated resumes. Nearly half of hiring managers (49%) say candidates often struggle to back up AI-enhanced claims during interviews.