The Heat Increases Along with MA Unemployment Rate; RI Stuck on High

Hot WeatherFrom April to June, Massachusetts unemployment rate (7.0%) has increased along with this summer’s heatwave, while in Rhode Island, the rate (8.9%) was essentially unchanged.  Rhode Island continued to top the unemployment rankings in June– at fourth place nationally and first place in New England.

More workers come into the market in the summer time especially young adults raging from age 16-24 years old who are out of school or recent graduates of colleges and universities. Bureau of Labor Statistics evaluates the youth employment in this article:

Employment and Unemployment Among Youth Summary

In Massachusetts, UI rates from April to June increased by .6% rather than dropping. Lowell did not take the heat well when its UI rate increased to 9.3% when in April it was only 7.9%. Fall River, which normally steadily increases, had a good introduction to summer ending off with a 12% UI rate when the city started off with a 15.3% in March. This summer, New Bedford took Fall River’s place in the hot seat when it  increased from 12.4% to 13.6 % in June.

For a clearer view of the UI rates discussed click the link below:

MA Unemployment Rates

In Rhode Island, Providence’s UI rate inched down to 11%.  As with the Bay State’s industrial cities, the lower unemployment in the suburbs produced the statewide average unemployment of 8.9% in June.  This is an important milestone, since falling below 9.0% means that long term unemployment benefits will be shortened by 13 weeks, effective in August.

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