Chelmsford-Area Unemployment Rate Decreases: Latest Data

CHELMSFORD, MA — The national job report for September was a disappointment to economists, who had expected more than the 194,000 non-farm jobs that were added during the month.

The September jobs report was even worse than that in August, when 366,000 jobs were created, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The national unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points to 4.8 percent despite the September disappointment.

The latest available local unemployment figures are for August; that rate improved since July in the Chelmsford area and continues to be lower than it was the beginning of the pandemic.

The Middlesex County unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in August, down from 4.6 percent in July. That reflected some improvement from August 2020, when the unemployment rate stood at 7.6 percent.

The August unemployment rate in Middlesex County was lower than the Massachusetts rate of 5.4 percent, according to the latest local figures from the BLS.

Nationally, 17.4 million jobs have been added back to the economy since April 2020. Still, the country is down 5 million positions (3.3 percent) from pre-pandemic levels.

The jobs report is based on survey data from mid-September, which may have skewed negatively due to several crises in the country, according to The Washington Post. At the time there were 150,000 coronavirus cases per day in the country; the number has since dropped by nearly half.

Parts of the country were also recovering from the devastating Hurricane Ida, and California is still dealing with the effects of ongoing wildfires.

Average hourly wages continued to climb in September, with a 17-cent gain to $30.85. Hourly wages have grown for six months in a row as employers look to fill vacant positions.

Employees have been more willing than ever to leave their employers. A record 4.3 million employees quit their jobs in August, according to the BLS.

The leisure/hospitality and professional/business service industries led the way for September job gains with 74,000 and 60,000 jobs, respectively. Retail trade jobs increased by 56,000 jobs after two months of little change.

Editor's note: This post was automatically generated using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. Please report any errors or other feedback to [email protected].