Mass. unemployment hits highest rate since 1976
The Massachusetts unemployment rate last month rose to its highest level since the 1970s as employers cut more than 9,000 jobs and work remains scarce.
The jobless rate rose to 9.3 percent in September from 9.1 percent in August, exceeding the percent peak rate of 9.1 percent reached during the deep New England recession of the early 1990s, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said in a press release.
It is the highest rate since 1976, when the state was recovering from a recession spurred by soaring energy prices following the Arab oil embargo and the collapse of traditional manufacturing industries.
Massachusetts unemployment peaked at 12.3 percent in June 1975, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Earlier this month, the US Labor Department reported that the national unemployment rate rose to its highest level since June 1983, increasing to 9.8 percent in September from 9.7 percent in August.
Employers cut 9,200 jobs in September, the most since April, reversing a recent trend of declining job losses. The state shed 700 jobs in August.
While many economists think that the US economy and the Massachusetts economy are pulling out of a recession, the jobless rate often rises early in a recovery because businesses, uncertain of a rebound’s staying power, continue to hire cautiously.
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