Unemployment Numbers Improve for Cape and Islands in January

March 23, 2017

HYANNIS – The Cape and Islands’ jobs outlook is continuing to improve with the latest unemployment numbers in from January.

Barnstable County saw the unemployment rate for the month of January drop from 8.3 percent in 2016 to 6.8 percent in January 2017.

Numbers in January 2017 continued to drop from those in January 2016 for Plymouth, Nantucket, Dukes and Bristol Counties.

Plymouth went from 5.2 percent to 4.3 percent, Nantucket dropped 11.2 percent to 9.8 percent, Dukes declined from 10.1 percent to 8.3 percent, and Bristol went from 6.6 percent to 5.4 percent in January.

“That just keeps continuing to show the same strength in our economy that we’ve been seeing throughout these winter months,” said Cape and Islands Workforce Investment Board Executive Director David Augustinho.

There are also more Barnstable County residents finding employment as compared to last year.

In January 2016, there were over 96,200 employed, but in January 2017, it rose to more than 98,740 found work.

“That’s 2,500 individuals who are in the workforce and receiving salaries that help support the entire economy,” said Augustinho.

Barnstable County isn’t the only county in the state to see an increase in labor force numbers.

Plymouth County went from 252,869 in January 2016 to 258,505 in January 2017.