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Whitney SmithMonique Coppola
BOSTON – More people in Massachusetts have a job to return to after a long Labor Day weekend, percentage-wise, than in most other states, according to a new report from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. The effects of the recession are still being felt though, especially by residents with lower-levels of education, says Tom Benner, who is communications director for the group that conducted the study.
He says that for those without a high school diploma, the unemployment rate is a whopping 17 percent.
“It stands at more than 11 percent for those with only a high school degree. For those with at least a bachelor’s degree, the unemployment rate is just over four percent.”
Benner says that median weekly wages have also held up better in Massachusetts than in most states- and the picture is brighter in terms of job losses too.
“We’ve lost just under three percent of jobs in Massachusetts since the start of the recession, but that’s less than half of the rate of job loss of the nation as a whole, which is 5.9 percent, and that’s a better performance than the majority of 50 states.”
Nationally the unemployment rate is 9.6 percent, and the overall Massachusetts rate falls half a point below that. Benner says a larger share of the labor force has bachelor’s degrees in Massachusetts than in any other state. He adds that the state’s strength in producing and attracting well-educated workers may help to explain its above-average job and wage performance during difficult economic times.
The full report, “Facts at a Glance: Jobs and the Massachusetts Economy on Labor Day 2010,” is available online at:
www.massbudget.org
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