Greater Worcester has finally received its September unemployment rate, after the federal government shutdown left states unsure whether they would receive their monthly unemployment data at all.
After two months of unchanged unemployment, Greater Worcester’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage in September to a rate of 4.6%. This figure was just slightly under the state’s seasonally adjusted figure, which sat at 4.7%, according to a Monday press release from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
“The data released today tells us less about what’s happening now, and more about what was happening a few months ago,” Mark Rembert, chief economist of the EOLWD’s Department of Economic Research, said in the release. “The good news is that the key labor market indicators that we do have for October and November have been stable. Seasonally adjusted initial unemployment insurance claims remain relatively flat, and job posting activity has been steady.”
Due to the government shutdown, September’s unemployment rates will not be published and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has yet to schedule a release date for November’s rates, according to the release.
The BLS’ website reports the collection period for November’s figures has been extended and the agency will need extra processing time.
Worcester County’s September unemployment rate was the third-highest of the 12 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas and divisions analyzed by the BLS. Greater Springfield had the highest rate of 5.4% and Greater Nantucket had the lowest, at 3.0%.
While Worcester proper’s unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points over-the-month, at 5.0%, it still remained higher than both its county and state. The city’s September figure constituted a 0.8 percentage point increase from the same month in 2024.
Greater Framingham once again had the lowest unemployment rate of the five Central Massachusetts metro and micropolitan statistical areas analyzed by WBJ. At 4.0%, the area’s unemployment rate represented a 0.3 percentage point decrease from August, but a 0.9% increase from September 2024.
At 5.7%, Athol and Gardner tied for the highest unemployment rate analyzed by WBJ. Athol’s metric fell 0.7 percentage points from August—the largest over-the-month drop of all five regions—while Gardner’s rate reflected a 0.6 percentage point drop from the prior month.
At 4.5%, Leominster had the second-lowest unemployment rate in September. The area also tied with Framingham with the lowest over-the-year increase, as its rate also marked a 0.8 percentage point increase from September 2024.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
