Latest Seasonally Unadjusted Unemployment, Job Estimates

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BOSTON, Mass. — Local unemployment rates increased in twenty-one of twenty-four labor market areas in the state during the month of June 2024 compared to May 2024, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported.
 
Compared to June 2023, the rates were up in all twenty-four labor market areas.
 
Of the fifteen areas for which employment estimates are published, all fifteen NECTA areas gained jobs compared to the previous month. The largest percentage increases occurred in the Barnstable Town (+6.2 percent), Pittsfield (+2.5 percent), and New Bedford (+2 percent) areas.
 
From June 2023 to June 2024, ten areas gained jobs with the largest percentage increases seen in the Pittsfield (+2.2 percent), Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead (+2.2 percent), and Peabody-Salem-Beverly (+2.1 percent) areas.
 
The statewide seasonally adjusted preliminary jobs estimate showed an increase of 19,000 jobs in June, and an over-the-year gain of 40,200 jobs.
 
In order to compare the statewide rate to local unemployment rates, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the statewide unadjusted unemployment rate for June 2024 was 4.0 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the revised May 2024 estimate and was the 0.3 percentage points below the nation's unadjusted unemployment rate of 4.3 percent.
 
Last week, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the month of June 2024 was 3.2 percent, up 0.2 percentage points compared to the revised May 2024 estimate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the nation's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June 2024 increased by 0.1 percentage point over-the-month to 4.1 percent.
 
The unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates.
 
The estimates for labor force, unemployment rates, and jobs for Massachusetts are based on different statistical methodologies specified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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BCC Sees $1M in Federal Funds for Trades Academy

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal secured $995,000 to begin design and construction of the academy. The congressman had earlier attended the Norman Rockwell Museum business breakfast, which celebrated Laurie Norton Moffatt's 49 years leading the institution.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College was awarded nearly $1 million in federal funds to support a Trades Academy. 

On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal visited the college to highlight the $995,000 he secured through congressionally directed spending. Executive Director of Workforce and Community Education Linda Clairmont said BCC can be a destination for adults who want to learn a skilled trade. 

"I want to join up with the amazing work that Taconic and McCann (vocational high schools) are doing to prepare people for these really specific skills, helping people become confident professionals with a direct path to high-wage, high-demand jobs," she explained. 

"And we're also addressing the labor shortage that exists in this county, around the state, and around the country, in the skilled trades." 

The federal funding will support a feasibility study of an existing vacant building on campus, as well as the evaluation and abatement of any hazardous materials at the location, because it was once a power plant. 

BCC will dip its toe into the skilled trades with its first HVAC training program, for which it received $1.2 million from the state in support. The $995,000 in federal funds will go toward creating the academy in a building located on the main campus, and the HVAC heat pump training program will be funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. 

The $1 million in federal monies will get the college to construction documents, maybe fund some construction, and help identify the necessary equipment and other learning space needs for a skilled trade, Clairmont reported. 

The funding is part of more than $14 million in congressionally directed spending secured by the congressman to support economic development, workforce training, and community infrastructure across the Berkshires.

Neal said there are about 6.5 million jobs in the United States that go unanswered every day.

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