Massachusetts Unemployment Falls in August, But So Does Labor Force Participation

Last week, the Commonwealth released the revised seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July 2020 and the rate for August 2020. At 16.2 and 11.3 percent respectively, these rates continue to exceed the current rate for the nation at 8.4 percent. Although the estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that Massachusetts added 51,600 jobs in August, at the same time the total labor force decreased by 127,600. This means nearly 128K workers were neither working nor currently looking for work. The labor force participation rate, 62.6 percent, is down 5.2 percentage points from August 2019.

This week, the local area unemployment rates were released, showing variation across the state, with 55 cities and towns exceeding the state non-seasonally adjusted rate to a high of 23 percent in the City of Lawrence. Springfield and Revere follow with the next highest rates, 18.6 and 18.4 percent. See below for links to the latest available data and tools for analysis.

Unemployment Rates and Labor Force Participation

Claims Data

Labor Market Information and Data Visualization Tools