January 14, 2021
Mass., like the nation, sees unemployment claims spike after holidays
Photo | Grant Welker
A vacant former Jos. A. Bank store at Northborough Crossing
By Grant Welker
New unemployment claims have spiked in Massachusetts and nationally since the holidays ended, with statewide numbers hitting two-month highs and national numbers at five-month highs.
The new data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to regularly set new records for daily deaths, case numbers and hospitalizations.
Massachusetts saw more than 31,000 new unemployment claims filed in the week ending Jan. 9, with the sharpest upticks in both retail as well as food and accommodation — the former a potential effect of temporary holiday season employment ending, and the latter likely due to tighter restrictions the state has placed on business capacities, including restaurants. Administrative jobs and health and social assistance jobs also continue to see high numbers of new unemployment claims.
By comparison, the state had roughly 24,000 new weekly unemployment claims before cases began spiking again around Thanksgiving. There were more than 181,000 new such claims in one week in March at the beginning of the pandemic. In a typical economy, the state would report only a few thousand new weekly claims.
Nationally, numbers have risen at even greater rates.
The U.S. had 985,000 new claims in the week ending Jan. 9, its most since August and a 22% increase from the week leading up to Christmas. The national unemployment rate in December of 6.7% was its best since the pandemic began, and a drastic improvement from 14.8% in April. But the rate of the population employed stood at just 57%, compared to 61% before the pandemic hit.
The Massachusetts unemployment rate was 6.7% in November, the latest month available. In the Worcester area, the rate was 6.3%, and in the Leominster, Fitchburg and Gardner area, it was 6.8%.
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