Unemployment rates in Central Massachusetts plummeted in April and are down sharply from April of last year, the Patrick administration said Tuesday.
Greater Worcester’s seasonally unadjusted jobless rate fell from 7.1 to 6.1 percent over the past month, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. That’s much improved over the 7.2 percent unemployment rate recorded in April 2013.
MetroWest also experienced a steep decline, from 5.1 to 4.4 percent, with the rate much lower than the 5.3 percent measured 12 months earlier.
Meanwhile, North Central Massachusetts saw joblessness decline from 8.8 to 7.5 percent, a big improvement over the 9 percent rate recorded in April 2013.
Statewide, unemployment in April 2014 was 5.6 percent, 1 percent lower than in March and at this time last year.
However, the number of people employed last month fell by 505 (0.18 percent) in Greater Worcester, 443 (0.31 percent) in the Framingham area and 44 (0.07 percent) in the Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner area. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed in those areas dropped by 3,046, 1,139 and 1,005, respectively.
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