Haverhill Area Suffers Job Losses

There has been a slight reversal in job growth in much of the lower Merrimack Valley reporting area.

A  report released Tuesday by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development indicates the Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury labor market area suffered job losses in November as the preliminary statewide seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate increased by .1 of a percentage point last month, to 5.2 percent. That number is 1.5 percent less than the 6.7 percent unadjusted unemployment rate recorded in November, 2013.

Meanwhile, the Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford labor market area continued to record job gains, as did seven other reporting areas in the Commonwealth. The Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury area joined with the Barnstable, Springfield, and Pittsfield areas in recording job losses in November.

The latest unemployment numbers for the Bay State show the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 5.8 percent in November, down 0.2 of a percentage point over the month and down 1.3 percent over the year.  The rate was the same as the national unemployment rate. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 13,500 job gain in November and an over the year gain of 59,600 jobs.