By Associated Press - Sunday, April 23, 2017

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - How to fix challenges in the state’s workforce is the focus of a new task force of lawmakers and business and education officials.

Assistant Senate Democratic Leader Nate Libby says that Maine’s population of working-age people is shrinking dramatically while the retiree population continues to grow.

The task force is scheduled to meet Monday in the Statehouse. Its members will represent public and private higher education systems, apprenticeship programs, adult education providers and the business community.

The group’s deadline for a report is March 2018.

Its work comes as the state experiences declining unemployment rates but shortages in fields such as home health care workers.

Libby says that though Mainers are eager to pull their own weight, many face barriers like lack of education or specific skills.

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