Fall River’s Unemployment Rate Drops

The Herald News, Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Fall River – Unemployment ticked down again in May, continuing the city’s trend.

The unemployment rate was listed at 6.2 percent last month, down from 7 percent in April, according to figures released Tuesday by the state Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

That rate is down from 9.5 percent in January, a reduction from 8.8 percent in 2015 and 14.2 percent in 2010 at the height of the recession.

The city’s unemployment was tied for the eighth-highest in the state. It was the third-highest among Massachusetts cities.

Lawrence had a rate of 7.2 percent in May, Springfield 7.1. In other cities, New Bedford also showed a 6.2 percent unemployment rate. Brockton’s rate was 5.3 percent in May: Lowell, 5.0; Worcester, 4.6; Taunton, 4.4; Lynn, 4.3; Quincy, 3.7; Boston, 3.6 and Cambridge, 2.6.

The state unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in May. In Rhode Island, unemployment in May was recorded at 5.3 percent, up from 4.9 percent in April.

Provincetown led the state in unemployment, with a rate of 14 percent in May. Of the five towns with the highest unemployment, only New Ashford, a town of 228 in the far northwest corner of the state, made the list. Truro, Wellfleet and Gosnold made up the rest of the top five.

The employment picture brightened through the region in May.

Unemployment in Swansea in May was 3.5 percent, down from 4 percent in April; Somerset, 4 percent, down from 4.2; Westport, 4.5 percent, down from 4.8; Dartmouth, 4 percent, down from 4.2; and Tiverton, 5 percent, up from 4.7 percent.

The rate in Taunton, 4.4 percent in May, is down from 4.7 percent in April; Berkley, 4.2 percent, up from 4.1; Dighton, 3.8 percent, down from 4; Freetown, 4 percent, down from 4.3; Lakeville, 3.6 percent, unchanged; Raynham, 3.7 percent, down from 3.9; and Rehoboth, 3.4 percent, down from 3.7.

South Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 2.5 percent, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. New Hampshire was second at 2.7 percent.

Massachusetts ranked 18 on that list and Rhode Island ranked 36th. Alaska had the nation’s highest unemployment in May at 6.7 percent.