Economy

COVID-19 has chaotically and deeply affected the Central Massachusetts’ economy, according to a group of panelists on a WBJ webinar Tuesday entitled “Mid-year Economic Review.” 

It was the end of March, coronavirus-related closures were freshly in place, and economic activity in Worcester County was down by one-third. Perhaps improbably, though, consumer spending in Worcester County has not only rebounded from that low point, but it has surpassed economic activity levels from the start of 2020.

This year’s 40 Under Forty class is certainly like no other. Although full of the archetypal up-and-coming leaders of Central Massachusetts business organizations, each member of the Class of 2020 has found a way to thrive in the midst of an international crisis.

New weekly unemployment claims fell further last week in Massachusetts, hitting roughly half the number of new claims filed a month ago.

The recession has erased roughly 24 years of job growth in the Worcester area. Some neighborhoods, particularly in Worcester and Fitchburg have been hit especially hard, with unemployment rates estimated at 30% or more.

The second part of the Phase Three of the Massachusetts economic reopening plan has been suspended indefinitely, Gov. Charlie Baker announced on Friday, along with a slew of other changes intended to stop the spread of COVID-19, as cases and related deaths have slowly begun to increase.

The national unemployment rate fell in July to 10.2%, continuing a relative rebound at a time when the economy is still hampered by high coronavirus pandemic cases.

Unemployment claims filed in Massachusetts last week hit a new low since the coronavirus pandemic began, providing a bright spot despite the state's highest-in-the-nation jobless rate.

More than 19,000 new unemployment claims were made last week across Massachusetts, a slight increase from the prior week, showing continued economic disruption in a state with the country's worst unemployment rate.

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.