Business & Tech
Somerville Unemployment Rate Drops to 3.8 Percent in May
The city has one of the lowest unemployments rates in the Boston area.
Somerville continues to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Boston area, according to figures released by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
The city's unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent in May, down from 3.9 percent in April and 5 percent in January.
Of the communities we looked at in the Somerville area, only Arlington and Cambridge had lower unemployment rates, at 3.5 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.
Find out what's happening in Somervillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
At the state level, the unemployment rate also ticked down another tenth of a percentage point, according to the Workforce Development figures. The May rate is 5.8 percent, down from 5.9 percent in April. The state gained 17,000 jobs over the month.
The trend line isn't as clear when you look at individual cities. Some communities, like Somerville and Medford, continued to see a drop in the unemployment rate, while others, such as Boston and even Cambridge, saw their unemployment rate rise from April to May.
Find out what's happening in Somervillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The table below shows the unemployment rates for a sampling of Greater Boston. Have you seen evidence of a stronger hiring market? Are you a business owner looking for more help? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
Community May 2012 April 2012 March 2012Feb. 2012
Jan. 2012
Arlington3.5% 3.5% 3.6% 4.2% 4.3% Boston 5.7% 5.5% 5.5% 6.6% 7.1% Cambridge 3.6% 3.4% 3.3% 4.1% 4.3% Chelsea 7.3% 7.5% 8.7% 10.4% 11.1% Everett 6% 5.9%* 6.5% 7.6% 7.8% Lynnfield 4.3% 4.3% 4.2% 5.2% 5% Malden 5.1% 5.2% 5.4% 6.1% 6.4% Medford 4.8% 5% 5.2% 6% 6.2% Melrose 4.2% 4.3% 4.4% 5% 5.2% Reading 4.1% 4.1% 4.2% 5.2% 5.1% Revere 6.8% 7% 7.5% 8.6% 8.9% Saugus 5.4% 5.7% 5.9% 6.9% 7.1% Somerville 3.8% 3.9% 3.9% 4.8% 5% Stoneham 5% 5.1% 5.1% 6.1% 6.5% Wakefield 4.7% 4.8% 5% 6.1% 6% Winchester 3.9% 4%* 3.8% 4.6% 4.6% Winthrop 5.8% 5.7% 5.9% 6.6% 7.3% Woburn 5.1% 5.2% 5.5% 6.6% 6.3%
* April numbers were readjusted and in some cases resulted in a percentage change for the marked communities.
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