Promising Uptick in Employment In May

Steps to reopen the economy in May sent the Berkshire jobless rate down a point for the month. But, it remains in double figures, a month after the region recorded the highest jobless rate in at least 22 years.

Local unemployment fell from 16.7 percent in April to 15.6 percent in May, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Berkshire unemployment now is lower than the state unemployment rate of 16.3 percent.

The national unemployment rate fell from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent last month.

In the county's two cities, gains were mixed. The unemployment rate in North Adams dropped almost 2 percentage points last month, from 18.7 percent to 16.9 percent, but fell by less than half a percentage point in Pittsfield, from 19.0 percent to 18.6 percent.

Read entire story now at in The Berkshire Eagle.Com.