Unemployment Rates Rise in Most Areas

BOSTON — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Tuesday that seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates went down in two areas during the month of June and increased in 22 areas in the state. According to data from U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor and Statistics, Nantucket and Vineyard Haven were the two areas where unadjusted unemployment rates dropped in June. Eleven of the 15 areas for which job estimates are published recorded seasonal job gains in June, with the largest gains in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Barnstable, Framingham, Pittsfield, and Lawrence-Methuen, and Salem, NH. Compared to June 2014, unemployment rates are down in all labor markets measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Last week, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.6% for the second consecutive month. The unemployment rate is down 1.1% over the year. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 10,500 job gain in June and an over-the-year gain of 72,700 jobs.

In order to compare the statewide rate to local unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the statewide unadjusted unemployment rate for June was 4.9%, up five-tenths of a percentage point from last month. 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 labor force, unemployment rates and jobs estimates for Massachusetts is based on different statistical methodology specified by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.