Remodeling? need a Plumber.Look no further.
Remodeling? need a Plumber.Look no further.
NEW BEDFORD -- The city's unemployment rate remains stuck in double digits, but the number of jobs in the area has actually increased in the last year. Growth in the services sector, which includes the legal, medical and engineering fields, among others, is largely responsible for the gains.
"Basically you have an improving economy, but (the improvement) is not in the traditional, manufacturing sector," said Edward Kaznocha, a labor market economist with the state Department of Employment and Training. "Across the board, that's pretty much the same case everywhere you look."
According to figures released yesterday by Mr. Kaznocha, the city's unemployment rate was 10.4 percent in July, compared with 10.2 percent in June. In July 1995, the city's jobless rate was 12.4 percent.
In the New Bedford area, which includes the city and surrounding communities, the unemployment rate was in 8.5 percent July, compared with 8.4 percent in June. In July 1995, the area's unemployment rate was 10.1 percent.
Over the course of the year, there's been a significant increase in the number of jobs in the region, up from 62,000 in July 1995 to 63,500 in July 1996.
The bulk of that increase came in service jobs, which increased from 16,600 last July to 17,600 this July. Those additional jobs, along with gains in retail trade and construction, helped offset losses in the area's manufacturing sector, which saw the number of jobs drop from 13,500 last July to 13,100 this July.
The state's jobless rate was 4.6 percent in July, down slightly from 4.9 percent in June. Nationwide, the jobless rate was in 5.6 in July, compared with 5.5 percent the previous month.
In the suburbs, as in New Bedford, the unemployment rate has remained fairly steady during the summer while showing improvement over the course of the year.
In Lakeville, the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in July, down slightly from 4.8 percent in June. Last July, the town's unemployment rate was 5.7 percent.
Middleboro's unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in July, virtually unchanged from June's 5.9 percent rate but a significant dip from last July's 6.7 percent jobless figure.
In Wareham, the July jobless rate was 5.5 percent, compared with 5.6 percent in June and a sharp drop from last July's 7.5 percent rate.
Here's a look at how the area's major employment sectors fared in July, compared with July 1995.
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