The 2009 “underemployment rate” for Massachusetts, which includes those who have given up looking for work, and those working only part-time, was at 14.5 percent, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was still somewhat below the national average of 16.2 percent, and it put us in a tie with Delaware […]
Jobs
Taunton goes from Silver City to Chickpea Central
Once known for its silversmiths, the city of Taunton is now trying to corner the market on hummus. The Taunton Daily Gazette reports that the City Council has just approved a TIF (tax increment finance) agreement that will allow Tribe Mediterranean Foods to save $140,000 in property taxes. In return, the company has promised to […]
Journalism: The Poetry of the ’00s
Jared Sugerman is tired of hearing about the Death of Newspapers. A Northeastern University senior and journalism major, Sugerman says he can’t count how many times a week someone asks why he planned his studies around a field with so few jobs. Even worse, some well-meaning types imagine he hasn’t heard the news about newspapers, […]
July 2009 unemployment rates: Lawrence and Fall River top 14 percent
The state Office of Labor and Workforce Development today released town-level unemployment data for July 2009, and the Gateway Cities continue to suffer the worst. See the chart below for rates from the 20 largest Bay State communities, as well as all 14 counties. Names in red indicate an unemployment rate at least 3 points […]
Huge job losses haven’t spread to public sector — yet
Does a government job protect you from recessionary pink slips? Maybe in the short term. Employment by state and local governments — here in Massachusetts and across the US — has been relatively flat since the start of the national recession, according to a new study by the Rockefeller Institute of Government in New York. […]
“Eds and meds” sector bucks national job loss trend
Friday, July 17, 2009 New state-level employment data for June 2009 are out today. Compared with June 2008, total jobs are down in 49 states — all except North Dakota. But jobs in "eds and meds" (education and health services) are up in 49 states — all except Arizona. (See Page 16 of PDF.)
Jobs picture in Fall River going from bad to worse
The news that Silver Line Building Products is closing its Fall River plant is a body blow to a region already suffering from the worst employment picture in the state. The New Jersey-based company, which manufactures vinyl doors and windows, opened its Fall River facility to great fanfare in 2001.The company announced last week that the […]
May brings more service jobs, fewer construction jobs
Massachusetts gained 4,900 jobs last month, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the first time we saw an increase since May 2008. The shift from blue- to white-collar employment continues: Jobs under the category of "professional, scientific, and business services" increased by 2,600, and "education and health services" went up by […]
Unemployment still centered in southeast Mass.
Town-by-town unemployment rates for April are now online at the state's Office of Labor and Workforce Development, and the results are shown in the map below: Statewide unemployment was 7.8 percent, down from March's 8.2 percent but up sharply from the previous April's 4.3 percent. (The data are not seasonally adjusted, so it's not unusual […]
March unemployment rate by Mass. city and town
The state has released town-by-town unemployment rates for March 2009, and southeastern Massachusetts had the worst job picture, as seen on the map below: Unemployment was above 10 percent in 63 of the state’s 351 cities and towns, led by Cape Cod’s Provincetown (32.6 percent) and Truro (20.9 percent) and Franklin County’s Monroe (23.3 percent). […]