October 1, 2020
The improving Mass. unemployment rate masking rising jobless claims
Photo | Grant Welker
An office building on Gold Star Boulevard in Worcester stand available for lease.
By Grant Welker
The Worcester area and Massachusetts both had improved unemployment rates in August to be optimistic about, amid attempts to bring the economy back on track during the coronavirus pandemic.
But new federal data released Thursday shows Massachusetts residents are claiming ever-higher initial unemployment claims in the past month and a half. In the last seven weeks, such claims have jumped by 67%.
New claims in the week ending Sept. 26 were 24,631, compared to 14,729 in the week ending Aug. 8.
Those worsening numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor come as the nation as a whole has seen initial unemployment claims stay at a flat — albeit very high — rate. A total of 837,000 claims were filed nationally last week, a 14% improvement from 971,000 in the week ending Aug. 8.
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts improved in August to 11.3%, the nation's seventh worst, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was down from the nation's worst two months in a row, including 16.2% in July.
The Worcester area's rate improved to 10.3% in August, down from 14.9% a month earlier. The Fitchburg, Leominster and Gardner area's rate was 12.6%, an improvement from 17.8% but still among the worst nationally in nearly 400 urban areas measured.
The national rate for August was 8.4%.
But the widely used unemployment number doesn't factor in those who no longer say they're actively searching for work. Total employment has shown more modest gains that the unemployment rates would indicate, rising 9% from April to August. The unemployment rate improved by 30% over that time.
Across Massachusetts, new unemployment claims have jumped in the past seven weeks in some key industries, including professional and technical services and health and social assistance, both whose claims more than doubled in that time, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Manufacturing claims were up 79% over that stretch.
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