New Bedford, Massachusetts Unemployment
The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for New Bedford fell 0.6 percentage points in November 2020 to 7.6%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.9 percentage points higher than the Massachusetts rate. The unemployment rate in New Bedford peaked in April 2020 at 22.3% and is now 14.7 percentage points lower. You can also compare New Bedford unemployment with unemployment in other cities.
| Unemployment Rate | November 2020 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | 6.7% | -0.2 | +3.1 |
| Massachusetts | 6.7% | -0.7 | +3.9 |
| New Bedford | 7.6% | -0.6 | +3.4 |
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 12,558 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area.
| Unemployed Persons | November 2020 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Bedford | 6,150 | -622 | +2,487 |
Number of Unemployed Persons
New Bedford, Massachusetts Unemployment History
| Date | National Unemployment Rate |
Massachusetts Unemployment Rate |
New Bedford Unemployment Rate |
New Bedford Unemployed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2020 |
6.7% | — | — | — |
| November 2020 |
6.7% | 6.7% | 7.6% | 6,150 |
| October 2020 |
6.9% | 7.4% | 8.2% | 6,772 |
| September 2020 |
7.8% | 9.8% | 11.3% | 9,771 |
| August 2020 |
8.4% | 11.4% | 13.3% | 10,826 |
| July 2020 |
10.2% | 16.2% | 18.9% | 16,086 |
| June 2020 |
11.1% | 17.7% | 21.2% | 18,556 |
| May 2020 |
13.3% | 16.6% | 21.7% | 18,600 |
| April 2020 |
14.8% | 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 |
3.5% | 2.8% | 4.2% | 3,628 |
1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩
Department of Numbers
The Department of Numbers contextualizes public data so that individuals can form independent opinions on everyday social and economic matters.
