BOSTON - Tuesday, January 27, 2009 --- The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the December area unemployment rates, not adjusted for seasonality, were higher in twenty-one of the Commonwealth's twenty-two labor markets.   The Amherst labor market area recorded a slight drop in unemployment rate over the month. The unemployment rates and job losses reflect the deepening impact of the national recession on Massachusetts residents.

Statewide, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate increased from 5.5 percent in November to 6.5 percent for December. Over the year, the rates were up in all areas. The labor market area estimates for both the unemployment rates and jobs are not adjusted for seasonality and may show different trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates.

Jobs were unchanged in the Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford labor market area in December. Over the month job losses were posted in the remaining eleven areas for which job estimates are published.  Over the year, the Framingham area continues to show job growth.

The statewide seasonally adjusted December 2008 unemployment rate released last week rose from 5.9 percent in November to 6.9 percent in December. Statewide, the seasonally adjusted jobs estimate for December showed over the month and over the year losses. The Massachusetts unemployment rate was three tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate, which rose from 6.8 percent in November to 7.2 percent in December.

NOTES: The January 2009 unemployment rate, labor force data and survey of jobs for Massachusetts will be released on March 5, 2009, local unemployment statistics will be released on March 10, 2009. Detailed labor market information is available at www.mass.gov/lmi.

*With the release of the January 2008 estimates, the data for the Pittsfield and Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner NECTA areas are no longer validated by US DOL BLS and the historical sub-state Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) series for 2007 have been revised. As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Metropolitan New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs) must have an urbanized area population of 50,000 or more, while a Micropolitan NECTA must have an urban cluster population of at least 10,000 but less than 50,000. A NECTA containing a single core with a population of at least 2.5 million may be subdivided to smaller groupings of cities and towns referred to as NECTA Divisions.