Central Mass. unemployment rose in November
Photo I Courtesy Phillips Precision
Unemployment rose Central Massachusetts in November for the second month in a row.
Central Massachusetts’ unemployment rates continued their upward trajectory in November for the second consecutive month after the region had begun to rebound from its year-long high in July.
The region’s unemployment growth was in line with the state’s trend as unemployment rose in the Commonwealth last month 3.9%, a 0.1 percentage point increase from October, according to a Tuesday press release from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate in Greater Framingham was once again the lowest of the four Central Massachusetts areas analyzed at 3.5%. This rate represented a 0.1 percentage point increase from October and a full percentage point jump from November 2023 when the rate was 2.5%.
Greater Worcester’s unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points in November from 3.6% in October to 3.8%. November’s increase landed the area at a rate 0.8 percentage points higher than in the same month in 2023, when unemployment was 3.0%.
For the second month in a row, unemployment in the Athol micropolitan area remained unchanged at 3.9% and was the only area to hold steady in November. The area also showed the smallest over-the-year increase, rising 0.6 percentage points from November 2023’s rate of 3.3%.
Unemployment was highest in the Leominster-Gardner area with a rate of 4.3%. November’s rate was tied with Greater Worcester for the largest over-the-month increase at 0.2 percentage point increase from October when the area’s unemployment sat at 4.1%. Leominster-Gardner’s rate represented the largest over-the-year increase, rising 1.2 percentage points from the area’s rate of 3.1% in November 2023.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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