Unemployment in Fall River Falls Sharply in March

Keith Thibault April 19, 2022 Comments Off on Unemployment in Fall River Falls Sharply in March

The unemployment rate in the City of Fall River in March fell to 7.4%, down from 8.6% in February.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reports that the labor force in Fall River in March totaled 41,292 employees. 3,068 people were recorded as being unemployed. The 7.4% unemployment rate for March compares to an 11.2% unemployment rate for March of 2021.

Here are the rates of communities surrounding Fall River:

Somerset, 4.2% (4.9% in February)
Swansea, 4.4% (5.1% in February)
Westport, 5.6% (6.3% in February)
Freetown, 4.7% (5.8% in February)

Rates in Gateway Cities across Eastern Massachusetts were all lower last month:

New Bedford, 6.9% (7.9% in February)
Taunton, 4.7% (5.5% in February)
Brockton, 5.2% (6.0% in February)
Lowell, 4.2% (4.8% in February)
Lawrence, 7.7% (8.8% in February)

The state unemployment rate for March fell to 4.3%. Here is more information from the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development:

From the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

BOSTON, MA April 19, 2022 — Local unemployment rates dropped in twenty-four labor market areas in the state during the month of March, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported.

Compared to March 2021, the rates were down in twenty-four labor market areas.

Of the fifteen areas for which estimates are published, fourteen areas gained jobs and one area had no changes. The largest percentage increases Boston-Cambridge-Newton (+0.8%), Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford (+0.8%), Framingham (+0.7%) and Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead (+0.7%) areas.

From March 2021 to March 2022, all fifteen areas gained jobs with the largest percentage increases seen in Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead (+6.1%), Springfield (+6.0%), Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford (+5.9%) and Boston-Cambridge-Newton (+5.9%) areas.

In order to compare the statewide rate to local unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the statewide-unadjusted unemployment rate for March 2022 was 3.8 percent, down 0.5 percentage point over the month.

Last week, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the month of March 2022 was 4.3 percent, a decrease of four-tenths of a percentage point from the February 2022 estimate of 4.7 percent.

The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed an increase of 21,000 jobs in March, and an over-the-year gain of 186,400 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).

Comments are closed.