Mass. unemployment rises to 5.5 percent

The Bay State's unemployment rate continued to march higher in October, but remained below the national average, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The agency said today that the state's unemployment rate climbed to 5.5 percent in October, up from 5.3 percent the previous month and 4.3 percent rate a year ago. Nationally, the job-

less rate leaped from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October.

The data were another sign of how hard the state's economy has been hurt by the global financial crisis and national economic recession.

Overall, Massachusetts lost 7,000 jobs in October; that follows the loss of 3,100 jobs in September, based on a survey of more than 9,000 employers. - article here.

See it's not just me who is unemployed