Unemployment Hot Spots at year-end 2013 Posted on February 14, 2014 by Eileen Wheeler Sheehan At yearend 2013, ten MA-RI cities over 25,000 population had an unemployment rate of 9.7% or higher. Lowell is still the hottest spot with 13.9% unemployed. Fall River heated up the fastest, spurting from 10.8% to 12.7%. Related Share this:FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailMorePinterestTumblrRedditPocketPrint