Take 5: NH Taxpayer ROI, burnout trends and email security

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

ACCORDING to a recent WalletHub analysis, New Hampshire once again ranks No. 1 in the nation for taxpayer return on investment. The analysis shows that New Hampshire taxpayers get more value from every dollar than anywhere else in the country, driven largely by the state’s low-tax, fiscally responsible approach. New Hampshire also ranked No. 5 as having the best school systems, and at No. 1 for having the lowest percentage of people living in poverty.

DRAWING on publicly reported data from Layoffs.fyi, Zety’s new Repeat Layoff Index tracked U.S.-based tech companies across industries from 2023 to 2025, and found that the share of companies conducting three or more layoff rounds nearly tripled from 1.8% in 2023 to 5.1% in 2025. About 70% of repeat layoffs happened within 12 months of the initial cut, with 34% occurring within just six months.

BURNOUT is the biggest business hurdle for 63% of women entrepreneurs in the U.S., based on a report published by McKinsey and LeanIn.org. The World Health Organization classifies burnout as a syndrome caused by chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been successfully managed. The report details how burnout among senior-level women is the highest it has been in the past five years, compared to 50% of senior-level men who experience the same.

WHEN a breaking news event happens, 36% of U.S. adults say they usually turn to their preferred news organization to get more information, according to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey from the Pew-Knight Initiative. Another 28% look to search engines like Google or Bing, and 19% head to social media to learn more. A smaller share (5%) usually asks friends, family or acquaintances for more information.

JUST 30% of New Hampshire’s largest businesses have implemented the email security standard that blocks domain spoofing and business email compromise, according to a new analysis from the DMARC/cybersecurity leader Red Sift. The study places New Hampshire near the bottom of the Northeast at a time when email-based fraud losses reached $2.77 billion nationwide. For a state with important health care systems, financial institutions, universities and government entities, the enforcement gap leaves trusted, high-volume email communications exposed to abuse by cybercriminals.