Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic
Employment and unemployment at the different metro areas in Massachusetts
July 29, 2020
Worcester metro unemployment jumps to 15.8%, among nation's worst
Photo | Grant Welker
A vacant retail space advertised for lease in Shrewsbury.
By Grant Welker
The unemployment rate in the Worcester metropolitan area in June jumped a full percentage point to 15.8%, giving it among the worst such rates nationally.
The latest workforce data, released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows the Worcester area with more than 6,000 additional people out of work in June compared to May. Compared to a year ago, those in the unemployment ranks have more than quadrupled to 56,236.
The region's 15.8% unemployment rate is an improvement over the statewide rate of 17.5%, but the Massachusetts rate in June was the worst in the country, with the state having taken more dramatic steps than most to keep business operations limited during the coronavirus pandemic. The national unemployment rate for June was 11.2%.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Worcester area isn't alone in seeing worse unemployment numbers among Massachusetts metro areas, despite the state's relative success in keeping the virus contained.
Fitchburg, Leominster, Gardner, and other regions of northern Worcester County broken out separately, saw unemployment rise from 17.5% to 18.7%, giving it the seventh worst such rate of nearly 400 metro areas nationally. Greater New Bedford, whose rate rose to 21.0%, was the nation's fifth worst.
Greater Worcester was in the bottom 6% of urban areas, ranking 364th out of 389. It ranked 302nd in May.
That same pain was not seen on the same scale even in similar metro areas in New England outside Massachusetts.
Hartford's unemployment rate, for example, was 9.7%, and Providence's was 13.5%. The rate in Bridgeport, Conn., was 10.3%, and Manchester, N.H., was 12.1%.
Other reports have started to give a better picture of the economic pain felt in the Worcester area and elsewhere as the pandemic drags on. More than 140 businesses across the Worcester metropolitan area have closed permanently since the coronavirus pandemic hit, and roughly 100 more have closed temporarily, according to an analysis by the business review website Yelp.
June's figures, which are not seasonally adjusted, are considered preliminary and subject to revision.
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Anonymous
July 29, 2020
Thank you Governor Baker for these awesome numbers!
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