In another category, child poverty dropped by more than 5 percentage points, but a University of New Hampshire researcher said it's hard to read anything to that number because the year before, the rate jumped by 6.8 percent. Beth Mattingly, director of research on vulnerable families and the university's Carsey School of Public Policy, said the leap above 15.5 percent followed by this year's drop to 10.2 percent of children living in poverty suggests a statistical hiccup. "The decline in our poverty rate is a positive sign that New Hampshire's economy continues to move in the right direction, but we know there are still those struggling to make ends meet and we need to continue working together to help innovative businesses create jobs, expand middle class opportunity and keep our economy moving forward," she said.