Tewksbury Unemployment Dips Slightly In August

Tewksbury's unemployment rate has been many things in 2012 -- steady has not been one of them.

The local jobless rate has ranged from 6.7 percent in January to 5.4 percent in May. In August, it settled in at 6.0 percent, down from 6.2 percent in July, according to figures released by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The figures likely reflect a seasonal fluctuation in employment numbers, as unemployment rates rose throughout Eastern Mass. area over the summer. One likely reason is the labor force typically grows during the summer due to the addition of out-of-school young people.

Across the state, the unemployment rate in August was 6.4 percent. In August of 2011 it was 7.2 percent.

Below is a chart of unemployment rates for cities and towns in the Somerville area.

Town

Aug. 2012

July 2012

June
2012

May 2012

April 2012

March 2012

Feb. 2012

 Jan. 2012

Arlington

4.2%

4.4%

4.2%

3.5%

3.5%

3.6%

4.2%

4.3%

Boston

6.6%

6.8%

6.5%

5.7%

5.5%

5.5%

6.6%

7.1%

Cambridge

4.2%

4.4%

4.2%

3.6%

3.4%

3.3%

4.1%

4.3%

Chelsea

8.0%

8.2%

8.2%

7.3%

7.5%

8.7%

10.4%

11.1%

Everett

6.7%

7.0%

6.3%

6%

5.9%*

6.5%

7.6%

7.8%

Lynnfield

4.7%

4.9%

4.6%

4.3%

4.3%

4.2%

5.2%

5%

Malden

5.8%

5.9%

5.7%

5.1%

5.2%

5.4%

6.1%

6.4%

Medford

5.3%

5.5%

5.4%

4.8%

5%

5.2%

6%

6.2%

Melrose

4.7%

4.7%

4.6%

4.2%

4.3%

4.4%

5%

5.2%

Reading

4.3%

4.6%

4.4%

4.1%

4.1%

4.2%

5.2%

5.1%

Revere

6.8%

7.1%

7.0%

6.8%

7%

7.5%

8.6%

8.9%

Saugus

5.8%

6.1%

5.9%

5.4%

5.7%

5.9%

6.9%

7.1%

Somerville

4.3%

4.5%

4.3%

3.8%

3.9%

3.9%

4.8%

5.0%

Stoneham

5.2%

5.6%

5.4%

5.0%

5.1%

5.1%

6.1%

6.5%

Wakefield

4.7%

4.9%

4.9%

4.7%

4.8%

5.0%

6.1%

6.0%

Winchester

4.0%

4.3%

4.3%

3.9%

4%*

3.8%

4.6%

4.6%

Winthrop

6.3%

6.0%

5.9%

5.8%

5.7%

5.9%

6.6%

7.3%

Woburn

5.4%

5.6%

5.4%

5.1%

5.2%

5.5%

6.6%

6.3%

Source: Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development