Bay State unemployment rates by city and town now on-line

By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff

Unemployment rates for individual cities and towns for December show that the worst hit are older cities and towns on the Cape, which thrive in the summer months.

Cities such as Lawrence, Fall River and New Bedford had unemployment rates ranging from 15.8 to 17.8 percent. The rate was up in all three from a year earlier.

Provincetown had the highest unemployment in the state -- 36.3, up from 29.2 a year earlier. Truro and Wellfleet had rates in the 20s, also up from 2008. The rate in Boston was 8.3, up from 8 percent a year earlier.

The statewide rate was 9.1 percent, which is not seasonally adjusted. Data is from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The data is now interactive, which means users can click on the word "view data"in the lower right corner of the map, and go to Man-eyes.com to create their own charts and maps.