Unemployment in the Greater Worcester metropolitan area saw a decrease of 0.4 percentage points in November, dropping to 4.8%, according to Thursday’s report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This marks the lowest unemployment rate in Greater Worcester since the coronavirus pandemic hit. Until now, 5.2% has been the lowest unemployment rate since April 2020.
Like every other metropolitan area in the nation, Worcester’s November unemployment rate was lower than last year’s. Greater Worcester had a 7.5% unemployment rate in November 2020.
The civilian labor force also grew to 355,381 in November, a roughly 3,400 increase from October, and a 2,600 increase from the previous year.
The Leominster-Gardner region hit its pandemic low at 5.5%, which bests the previous 5.7% low. November marked a 0.3-percentage-point drop from October’s 5.8% rate. Nearly 900 people joined the labor force in November, now with 79,471 total.
Both regions had a better month than Massachusetts as a whole, which was the only state in the country whose unemployment rate rose in November. The statewide average rate was 5.4%, 0.1 percent higher than it was in October.
