Jobless Rate Ticks Up, But Still Below April’s Peak

Massachusetts is continuing to reopen from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the local unemployment rate is going up, not down.

The Berkshire Eagle reports after falling to 15.8 percent in May from a peak of 16.7 percent in April — that was the highest rate recorded in the Berkshires in at least 22 years, according to state figures — the Berkshire unemployment rate rose almost half a percentage point, to 16.2 percent, in June as more than 10,000 county residents now are receiving jobless benefits, according to state figures that were released Tuesday.

The Berkshire rate remained lower than the state rate, which rose a full percentage point, to 17.5 percent, in June. The national unemployment rate is 11.1 percent.

Read the whole story now at The Berkshire Eagle.Com.