September unemployment rates in Central Massachusetts changed only slightly in September, mirroring the statewide rate, which officials said last week rose 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis to 6.5 percent from August.
Unadjusted, the rate was unchanged at 6.4 percent, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said today.
Locally, the Worcester area’s rate remained the same at 7.1 percent; the rate for the Framingham area rose slightly from 4.9 to 5 percent, and the rate for the Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner area fell slightly to 8.7 percent from 8.8 percent. The rate in the Athol area fell 0.3 percent, from 8.5 percent in August to 8.2 percent in September.
Since September 2011, 10 of the state’s 12 statistical areas added jobs, with Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner recording one of the largest percentage gains (2 percent), along with the Peabody, Boston-Cambridge-Quincy and Barnstable areas.
