Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ronald L. Walker II.
More jobs created in a flat labor market helped tick unemployment rates downward in Haverhill and most other Merrimack Valley communities during August.
Seasonally unadjusted numbers released Tuesday by the state labor department show Haverhill’s jobless rate dropped one percentage point in August to 3.9 percent, compared to a seasonally adjusted 4 percent in July. While only 12 workers were added to the labor force last month, 63 jobs were added in the city and 51 fewer people received unemployment benefits. Haverhill’s August unemployment rate was one percentage point above the statewide 3.8 percent jobless rate. Compared to August, 2015, unemployment in Haverhill is 1.2 percent lower. The Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury reporting area was among four areas with the largest job gain percentages in that period, according to a statement.
Elsewhere in WHAV’s listening area, unemployment in Andover and Methuen each fell by two percentage points last month, to 3.1 percent and 4.3 percent respectively. In Groveland, a one percentage point drop brought its August unemployment rate to 2.7 percent.
Among the valley’s urban communities, Lowell showed the greatest monthly job gains, where 220 new jobs were created and unemployment there fell by four percentage points to 5 percent. Lawrence’s unemployment rate, at 7.1 percent, was unchanged from July.