New Bedford, Massachusetts Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Bedford fell 0.6 percentage points in March 2012 to 9.4%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 2.9 percentage points higher than the Massachusetts rate. The unemployment rate in New Bedford peaked in November 2009 at 12.4% and is now 3.0 percentage points lower. You can also compare New Bedford unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	March 2012	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	8.2%	-0.1	-0.7
Massachusetts	6.5%	-0.4	-1.0
New Bedford	9.4%	-0.6	-2.2

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with March 2012 data as April metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: New Bedford, Massachusetts, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

New Bedford, Massachusetts Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in New Bedford peaked in January 2010 at 10,723. There are now 2,691 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. New Bedford employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in New Bedford, Massachusetts) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	March 2012	Month/Month	Year/Year
New Bedford	8,032	-506	-2,171

Number of Unemployed Persons

New Bedford, Massachusetts Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Massachusetts Unemployment Rate	New Bedford Unemployment Rate	New Bedford Unemployed
April 2012	8.1%	6.3%	—	—
March 2012	8.2%	6.5%	9.4%	8,032
February 2012	8.3%	6.9%	10.0%	8,538
January 2012	8.3%	6.9%	10.1%	8,623
December 2011	8.5%	6.9%	10.3%	8,844
November 2011	8.7%	7.0%	10.6%	9,103
October 2011	8.9%	7.1%	10.8%	9,341
September 2011	9.0%	7.2%	11.0%	9,443
August 2011	9.1%	7.4%	11.1%	9,541
July 2011	9.1%	7.4%	11.3%	9,783
June 2011	9.1%	7.4%	11.2%	9,752
May 2011	9.0%	7.4%	11.2%	9,794
April 2011	9.0%	7.5%	11.4%	9,993