The Worcester-area job market took a hit in December when coronavirus cases were rising to all-time highs around the holidays.
The region’s unemployment rate ticked upwards to 6.9% from 6.2% a month prior, the first time since June the rate rose month-to-month, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday.
Northern Worcester County — measured as the Leominster, Fitchburg and Gardner area — also saw unemployment rates rise. In that case, the number rose to 8.0% from 6.8%.
Those worsening trends mirror what’s happening across Massachusetts and nationally.
The state unemployment rate also rose in December, to a previously reported 7.4% from 6.8%. The national unemployment rate was flat month-to-month at 6.7%, but new unemployment claims, which are reported weekly, spiked after the holidays, coinciding with all-time highs in coronavirus cases.
In the Worcester and Leominster areas, unemployment rates worsened in December even as unemployment grew slightly, a factor of both seasonal employment and a larger number of people no longer counting as actively looking for work, which is factored into the rate.
More than 25,000 fewer people in the Worcester area were working this December than a year prior, a drop of 7%. The area’s unemployment rate was 2.6% a year prior. It peaked in June at 16.1%, just as business restrictions were loosened coming out of the first wave of the pandemic.
In the Leominster area, nearly 7,700 fewer people were working in December compared to a year prior, a fall of nearly 10%.
The two Central Massachusetts labor markets are relatively among the nation’s worst. The Worcester area ranked 294th out of 389 areas, and Northern Worcester County ranked 333rd. Among national metro areas, the unemployment rate was 6.5%.
