Business & Tech
Somerville Unemployment Rose Above 4 Percent Over Summer
The city continued to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the Boston region.
After seeing its unemployment rate drop to 3.8 percent in May, Somerville's unemployment rate was above 4 percent over the summer.
According to figures released by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Somerville's unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in June, 4.5 percent in July and 4.3 percent in August.
The figures likely reflect a seasonal fluctuation in employment numbers, as unemployment rates rose throughout the entire Somerville area over the summer. One likely reason is the labor force typically grows during the summer due to the addition of out-of-school young people.
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Somerville continued to have some of the lowest unemployment rates in the area. Only Cambridge, Winchester and Arlington had lower unemployment rates in August (at 4.2, 4.0 and 4.2 percent, respectively).
Somerville's August unemployment rate was also lower than in August of 2011, when it was 5.3 percent.
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Across the state, the unemployment rate in August was 6.4 percent. In August of 2011 it was 7.2 percent.
Below is a chart of unemployment rates for cities and towns in the Somerville area.
Town
Aug. 2012
July 2012
June
2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
Feb. 2012
Jan. 2012
Arlington
4.2%
4.4%
4.2%
3.5%
3.5%
3.6%
4.2%
4.3%
Boston
6.6%
6.8%
6.5%
5.7%
5.5%
5.5%
6.6%
7.1%
Cambridge
4.2%
4.4%
4.2%
3.6%
3.4%
3.3%
4.1%
4.3%
Chelsea
8.0%
8.2%
8.2%
7.3%
7.5%
8.7%
10.4%
11.1%
Everett
6.7%
7.0%
6.3%
6%
5.9%*
6.5%
7.6%
7.8%
Lynnfield
4.7%
4.9%
4.6%
4.3%
4.3%
4.2%
5.2%
5%
Malden
5.8%
5.9%
5.7%
5.1%
5.2%
5.4%
6.1%
6.4%
Medford
5.3%
5.5%
5.4%
4.8%
5%
5.2%
6%
6.2%
Melrose
4.7%
4.7%
4.6%
4.2%
4.3%
4.4%
5%
5.2%
Reading
4.3%
4.6%
4.4%
4.1%
4.1%
4.2%
5.2%
5.1%
Revere
6.8%
7.1%
7.0%
6.8%
7%
7.5%
8.6%
8.9%
Saugus
5.8%
6.1%
5.9%
5.4%
5.7%
5.9%
6.9%
7.1%
Somerville
4.3%
4.5%
4.3%
3.8%
3.9%
3.9%
4.8%
5%
Stoneham
5.2%
5.6%
5.4%
5%
5.1%
5.1%
6.1%
6.5%
Wakefield
4.7%
4.9%
4.9%
4.7%
4.8%
5%
6.1%
6%
Winchester
4.0%
4.3%
4.3%
3.9%
4%*
3.8%
4.6%
4.6%
Winthrop
6.3%
6.0%
5.9%
5.8%
5.7%
5.9%
6.6%
7.3%
Woburn
5.4%
5.6%
5.4%
5.1%
5.2%
5.5%
6.6%
6.3%
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