The unemployment rate in the city of Fall River in September rose to 8.4%, up from 8.0% in August.
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reports that the labor force in Fall River in September totaled 40,494 employees. 3,399 people were recorded as being unemployed. The 8.4% unemployment rate for September compares to a 12.0% unemployment rate for September of 2020.
All the communities surrounding Fall River saw their unemployment rate drop last month:
Somerset, 4.6% (5.4% in August)
Swansea, 4.7% (4.9% in August)
Westport, 5.4% (6.0% in August)
Freetown, 5.0% (5.4% in August)
Rates at Gateway Cities across Eastern Massachusetts were either lower or saw no change:
New Bedford, 7.9% (8.2% in August)
Taunton, 6.3% (6.5% in August)
Brockton, 8.4% (8.5% in August)
Lowell, 6.4% (6.4% in August)
Lawrence, 10.8% (11.1% in August)
The state unemployment rate for September rose .2% to 5.2%. Here is more information from the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development on the local numbers:
From the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development
BOSTON, MA October 26, 2021 — Local unemployment rates dropped in twenty-one labor market areas and increased in three labor market areas in the state during the month of September, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported.
Compared to September 2020, the rates were down in twenty-four labor market areas.
Nine metropolitan areas for which job estimates are published experienced gains in September. The largest percentage increases occurred in Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead (+3.8%), New Bedford (+1.4%), Leominster-Gardner areas (+1.2%) and Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton (+1.2%). The largest percentage loss was in Barnstable Town (-6.9%) due to normal seasonality.
From September 2020 to September 2021, all fifteen areas gained jobs with the largest percentage increases in the Framingham (+6.0%), Boston-Cambridge-Newton (+5.8%), and Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton (+5.4%) areas. The Barnstable area has added nine percent more jobs since February 2020, while other areas are still experiencing losses in comparison to pre-pandemic employment.
In order to compare the statewide rate to local unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the statewide-unadjusted unemployment rate for September was 5.3 percent.
Last week, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the month of September was up two-tenths of a percentage point over the month at 5.2 percent.
The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed an increase of 11,900 jobs in September, and an over-the-year gain of 175,200 jobs.
The unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates.
The estimates for labor force, unemployment rates and jobs for Massachusetts are based on different statistical methodology specified by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
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