City Shows Gains in Employment

The latest jobs figures from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development show gains in the Haverhill area as well as the greater Merrimack Valley.

The Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury reporting area ranked fourth among nine areas recording job gains in September. The Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford area was second. Meanwhile, the preliminary statewide unadjusted unemployment rate estimate for September was 6.2 percent, up 0.2 of a percentage point from August. Over the year, the statewide unadjusted rate was down 0.9 of a percentage point from the September 2013 rate of 7.1 percent.

The seasonally adjusted statewide September unemployment rate was 6 percent, up .2 of a percentage point over the month and down 1.2 percent over the year.  The rate was .1 of a percentage point above the 5.9 percent national unemployment rate. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 9,400 job gain in September and an over the year gain of 64,100 jobs.

The labor force, unemployment rates and jobs estimates for Massachusetts, and for every other state, are based on several different statistical methodologies specified by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates.