New Bedford, Massachusetts Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Bedford fell 0.6 percentage points in May 2020 to 21.7%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 5.1 percentage points higher than the Massachusetts rate. The unemployment rate in New Bedford peaked in April 2020 at 22.3% and is now 0.6 percentage points lower. You can also compare New Bedford unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	May 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	13.3%	-1.4	+9.7
Massachusetts	16.6%	+0.4	+13.7
New Bedford	21.7%	-0.6	+17.2

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with May 2020 data as June 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 April 2020 at 18,708. There are now 143 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area.

Unemployed Persons	May 2020	Month/Month	Year/Year
New Bedford	18,565	-143	+14,673

Number of Unemployed Persons

New Bedford, Massachusetts Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Massachusetts Unemployment Rate	New Bedford Unemployment Rate	New Bedford Unemployed
July 2020	10.2%	—	—	—
June 2020	11.1%	17.4%	—	—
May 2020	13.3%	16.6%	21.7%	18,565
April 2020	14.7%	16.2%	22.3%	18,708
March 2020	4.4%	2.8%	4.1%	3,510
February 2020	3.5%	2.8%	4.1%	3,591
January 2020	3.6%	2.8%	4.2%	3,628
December 2019	3.5%	2.8%	4.2%	3,625
November 2019	3.5%	2.8%	4.2%	3,663
October 2019	3.6%	2.8%	4.3%	3,712
September 2019	3.5%	2.8%	4.4%	3,769
August 2019	3.7%	2.8%	4.4%	3,834