HYANNIS – The latest unemployment numbers are in for the Cape and Islands and its showing that there was a slight uptick in numbers from last year.
The unemployment rate for Barnstable County from May 2017 was 4.7 percent, compared to 4.2 percent in May 2016
In Bristol County, the unemployment rate was the same as Barnstable County’s, going from 4.2 percent last year to 4.7 percent last month.
“It’s not a huge change in either direction, we’ve levelled off and we’re not seeing the gains that we had not just for months, but several years,” said Cape and Islands Workforce Development Board Executive Director David Augustinho.
Other counties also saw a slight uptick in their numbers with Dukes County going from 4.6 percent in May 2016 to 5 percent in May 2017 and Nantucket County seeing theirs go from 3.1 percent to 3.7 percent last month.
The state’s unemployment rate last month also saw a rise from 3.7 percent last year to 4.1 percent last month.
Plymouth County went from 3.9 percent in May 2016, but went down to 4.3 percent last month.
Despite the efforts by Congressman Bill Keating to get the H2B Visa program to accept more people, Augustinho is concerned about the lack of employees to fill positions with seasonal businesses.
“I’m afraid for our employers, especially our seasonal employers, it’s going to be very difficult to hire all the people they need to fill the jobs,” said Augustinho.
By JUSTIN SAUNDERS, CapeCod.com Newscenter
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