The unemployment rate in Haverhill for the month of March is on the decline as 244 jobs were added locally compared to February, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
The March unemployment rate in Haverhill fell by 0.4 percent to 5.5 percent. It is also a 1.2 percent decrease since March, 2014.
Rates of pay for these newly created jobs are not reported by the state. A report, however, from the National Employment Law Project says, “employment gains have been concentrated in lower-wage industries.” The 2014 report indicates:
- Lower-wage industries constituted 22 percent of recession losses, but 44 percent of recovery growth.
- Mid-wage industries constituted 37 percent of recession losses, but only 26 percent of recovery growth.
- Higher-wage industries constituted 41 percent of recession losses, and 30 percent of recovery growth.
Other Merrimack Valley communities also followed the trend of added jobs and lower unemployment between February and March. Methuen added 128 new jobs and its unemployment rate dropped by 0.4 percent to 5.4 percent. In Andover, 140 jobs were added in March for a 0.3 percent decrease in unemployment to 3.6 percent. Groveland gained 33 new jobs in March as unemployment fell to 3.8 percent, a decline by 0.4 percent.
“The seasonally adjusted statewide March unemployment rate, released on April 16, was 4.8 percent, down 0.1 of a percentage point over the month and down 1.1 percent over the year,” said Ann C. Dufresne, EOLWD communications director. “The rate was 0.7 of a percentage point below the national unemployment rate. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed an 10,500 job gain in March and an over the year gain of 60,200 jobs.”
| Location | Labor Force | Employment | Unemployment | Rate | ||||||||
| Mar 2015 |
Feb 2015 |
Mar 2014 |
Mar 2015 |
Feb 2015 |
Mar 2014 |
Mar 2015 |
Feb 2015 |
Mar 2014 |
Mar 2015 |
Feb 2015 |
Mar 2014 |
|
| Massachusetts | 3,613,100 | 3,603,300 | 3,523,800 | 3,432,000 | 3,409,300 | 3,303,000 | 181,100 | 194,000 | 220,800 | 5.0 % | 5.4 % | 6.3 % |
| Amesbury | 9,828 | 9,787 | 9,524 | 9,387 | 9,316 | 9,022 | 441 | 471 | 502 | 4.5 % | 4.8 % | 5.3 % |
| Andover | 17,586 | 17,490 | 17,087 | 16,953 | 16,813 | 16,355 | 633 | 677 | 732 | 3.6 % | 3.9 % | 4.3 % |
| Groveland | 4,114 | 4,095 | 4,012 | 3,956 | 3,923 | 3,814 | 158 | 172 | 198 | 3.8 % | 4.2 % | 4.9 % |
| Haverhill | 34,080 | 33,968 | 33,194 | 32,208 | 31,964 | 30,957 | 1,872 | 2,004 | 2,237 | 5.5 % | 5.9 % | 6.7 % |
| Lawrence | 35,721 | 35,695 | 35,254 | 32,277 | 32,112 | 30,892 | 3,444 | 3,583 | 4,362 | 9.6 % | 10.0 % | 12.4 % |
| Merrimac | 3,841 | 3,830 | 3,742 | 3,681 | 3,650 | 3,546 | 160 | 180 | 196 | 4.2 % | 4.7 % | 5.2 % |
| Methuen | 26,461 | 26,431 | 25,704 | 25,029 | 24,901 | 23,957 | 1,432 | 1,530 | 1,747 | 5.4 % | 5.8 % | 6.8 % |
| Newbury | 3,652 | 3,638 | 3,564 | 3,498 | 3,474 | 3,361 | 154 | 164 | 203 | 4.2 % | 4.5 % | 5.7 % |
| Newburyport | 9,748 | 9,695 | 9,465 | 9,338 | 9,258 | 9,002 | 410 | 437 | 463 | 4.2 % | 4.5 % | 4.9 % |
| North Andover | 15,533 | 15,486 | 15,047 | 14,884 | 14,800 | 14,270 | 649 | 686 | 777 | 4.2 % | 4.4 % | 5.2 % |
| West Newbury | 2,339 | 2,325 | 2,271 | 2,260 | 2,243 | 2,171 | 79 | 82 | 100 | 3.4 % | 3.5 % | 4.4 % |
The story does not support the assertion in the headline that “low-paying jobs” are behind the boost in employment numbers in Haverhill and the Merrimack Valley. It is misleading to cite a national report from 2014 and to imply/infer that it must be low-wage jobs that are being created in our area.
Along with this commercial behavior is another going on. The 99 Restaurant has cut all full time to part time, vacations have been taken away, and due to the cuts they are unable to apply earned money to a 401 they had. Some of their employees have 25 years plus.
Enjoy your reasonably priced meal, at the expense of its staff.
It’s the direct affect of the implementation of Obamacare.
If you vote Democrat you have no one to blame but yourself.
You mean employers like Southwick’s, a state EDIC beneficiary that stated if they didn’t receive taxpayer paid tax breaks would leave Haverhill, but employ low wage workers isn’t improving the economy? Say it isn’t so.
Watch for the mayor to spin this headline. For the past few months he’s been very actively going around promoting all the union jobs the demolition of the Woolworth Building has created downtown. Like the diehard Democrat he is, once construction begins there will be lots of photo ops of the mayor with union workers at Harbor Place. What better way to lock in future votes than promoting investing taxpayer money on bogus projects that create hack union jobs?