The unemployment rate in Fall River fell in May to a rate of 22.7%, down from the April rate of 24.2%.
It appears more people who were unemployed due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have gone back to work. The Massachusetts Office of Labor and Workforce Development reports that the labor force in Fall River in May totaled 40,699 employees. 9,238 people were recorded as being unemployed. The 22.7% unemployment rate for May compares to a 4.8% unemployment rate for May of 2019.
Towns surrounding Fall River also saw a drop in their unemployment rates: Somerset, 18.5% (20.6% in April), Swansea 16.0% (18.4% in April), Westport, 18.3% (19.7% in April) and Freetown, 17.3% (18.3% in April).
Other Gateway Cities in Massachusetts showed mixed results in unemployment in May. New Bedford recorded a rate of 23.9%, slightly lower than its 24.4% rate for April. Taunton also saw a slight dip, falling to 21.1% in May, down from 21.2% in April. Brockton saw a rise in unemployment to 22.9%, up from 21% in April. Lowell’s rate rose to 18.5%, up from 17.1% in April. Lawrence recorded a rate of 29%, up from 27.6% in April.
Here is more information from the state Office of Labor and Workforce Development on the local numbers:
BOSTON, MA June 23, 2020 — Local unemployment rates increased in eight labor market areas, decreased in fifteen areas and remained unchanged in one labor market area in the state during the month of May, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported.
Compared to May 2019, the rates were up in twenty-four labor market areas.
All fifteen areas for which job estimates are published recorded job gains in May. The largest gains occurred in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Springfield, Worcester, Barnstable, Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, and Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford areas.
From May 2019 to May 2020, all fifteen areas lost jobs with the largest percentage losses in the Barnstable, Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury, Pittsfield, Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead, and Springfield areas.
In order to compare the statewide rate to local unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the statewide-unadjusted unemployment rate for May was 16.3 percent.
Last week, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the month of May was 16.3 percent, one-tenth of a percentage point above the revised April rate of 16.2 percent.
The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 58,600 job gain in May, and an over-the-year loss of 605,000 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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