More bad times are projected for the New England economy, with job losses mounting into next year.
The forecast released Thursday by the New England Economic Partnership sees unemployment bottoming out in the second quarter of 2010 at 9.2 percent, with job losses of 450,000.
It also foresees only modest improvement in 2010 after that.
Forecasters do predict New England’s jobless rate will remain below the national peak of 10.3 percent.
New Hampshire has the best regional jobs forecast, with peak unemployment projected to peak at 7 percent.
Rhode Island’s forecast is most grim, with unemployment reaching a high of 11 percent.