\u201cIt\u2019s brutal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
More people in the Commonwealth are looking for work than there are jobs available, analysts say. It\u2019s now <\/b>taking job-seekers longer to get hired<\/a>. Employers are skittish about recruiting new workers as increased tariffs<\/a>, cuts in research investment<\/a> from the federal government, reduced funding for health care<\/a>, and an uncertain future for emerging sectors<\/a> such as offshore wind<\/a> sour the economic outlook<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen the nation catches a cold, Massachusetts and the other states, tend to get sick,\u201d said Michael Goodman, a professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. \u201cAnd within Massachusetts, certain regions of our state, including Southeastern Massachusetts … tend to get sicker sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just <\/b>people in Southeastern Massachusetts <\/b>who are struggling to find work. <\/b>There is evidence hiring has deteriorated throughout the Commonwealth<\/a>, according to data from the state\u2019s Labor and Workforce Development office<\/a>.<\/p>\n Goodman said a broader slowdown can be felt more deeply in areas beyond Greater Boston, the engine of the state\u2019s economy. <\/p>\n \u201cA downturn creates even more competition within the Greater Boston region as the people who are having even greater struggles finding work outside commute in search of jobs and make it more competitive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In Fall River and New Bedford, two of the largest cities in Southeastern Massachusetts, the job markets are \u201csluggish,\u201d said Branner Stewart, senior research manager at the UMass Donahue Institute.<\/p>\n Stewart said data show <\/b>an increase in people looking for work at a time when net hiring has slowed. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s essentially flat in both cities,\u201d he said. \u201cThere could be some people hiring, but the net between losses and new hires is basically close to zero.\u201d <\/p>\n Stephen Colella helped found Job Club RI<\/a>, which helps people apply for jobs and connects them to partner companies. Attendees come from Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and, on average, 20 to 25 people gather at a library in West Warwick, R.I., every Tuesday. He\u2019s noticed it\u2019s taking applicants longer to find new jobs, partly because of a tough market and also because the recruitment process has become too cumbersome.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a buyer\u2019s market,\u201d Colella said. \u201cThe wear and tear that this has, the anxiety and stress that causes the job-seeker, I mean, oftentimes they\u2019ll have two or three rounds of interviews and then they\u2019re ghosted. They don\u2019t hear anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Fall River and New Bedford have reported higher jobless rates as of July compared to the same time a year ago, according to data from the Massachusetts Department of Economic Research<\/a>. <\/p>\n Though down from a little over 8 percent in February, the unemployment <\/b>rate in Fall River was 6.2 percent in July, up from 5.9 percent a year earlier. In New Bedford, the jobless rate grew to 6.6 percent from 6.2 percent in July of 2024. The data is not seasonally adjusted.<\/p>\n Both cities are outpacing the statewide unemployment rate of 4.8 percent, itself the highest in close to four years. The national jobless rate<\/a> was at 4.2 percent last month. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not surprising if the state\u2019s economy is weakening, you would expect that the outlying areas are probably weakening more or faster or first,\u201d said Alan Clayton-Matthews, an associate professor emeritus of economics and public policy at Northeastern University.<\/p>\n On Friday, the state\u2019s Department of Economic Research chief economist Mark Rembert said<\/a> that \u201cthere was a gradual slowdown in the labor market\u201d in the state even as July saw fewer workers file for unemployment benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data suggests that it is taking longer for those looking for work to land a new position,\u201d he said in a statement. <\/p>\n Stewart said Southeastern Massachusetts has proximity to Boston and Rhode Island<\/a>, which can affect its economic fortunes if those two areas are facing headwinds. <\/p>\n \u201cIf Greater Boston and Greater Providence are both experiencing issues, then I think Southeastern Massachusetts potentially can be impacted more negatively,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n During economic downturns, Southeastern Massachusetts suffers more than the state as a whole and takes longer to recover, said Goodman, who co-edits MassBenchmarks, a journal about the Massachusetts economy.<\/p>\n Part of the reason is the region has a relatively less-educated workforce than the Metro Boston area, the anchor of the region\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n While there was no indication of widespread layoffs, signs show the US job market is facing some struggles. The recent national jobs report showed that employers are slowing down hiring<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no question that the labor market has softened considerably,\u201d Goodman said. \u201cIn an environment where there\u2019s fewer jobs than there are workers seeking jobs, employers tend to target those with higher levels of skill because they can.\u201d<\/p>\n In previous economic cycles, such as during the dot-com bubble bust in the 2000s and the 2008 financial crisis, Southeastern Massachusetts took longer to recover from the recessions that followed<\/a> compared to the state as a whole, <\/b>Goodman said.<\/p>\n Southeastern Massachusetts could see its economy hurt<\/a> as federal funding for emerging sectors in the region, such as offshore wind, decline. Meanwhile, expected cuts to Medicaid and Medicare could also devastate the health care industry, a key employer in the region. <\/p>\n Elsewhere, as research funding dwindles at higher education institutions, that could stymie innovations at the region\u2019s universities, which in turn could stifle job creation. <\/p>\n \u201cThe South Coast region is exposed, just as the Massachusetts economy is exposed, to these shifts in federal funding priorities,\u201d Goodman said. \u201cOur major employers, including schools, colleges and universities, and hospitals and the like, I think, are going to have a challenging period in the next few years if these policies persist.\u201d<\/p>\n The outlook is challenging for both older workers and young job-seekers trying to land a job, Goodman said. <\/p>\n Chrystie, the marketing executive who has attended Job Club, has applied to nearly 100 jobs but has received no job offers. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is the hardest it\u2019s ever been for me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s a combination of my age and seniority or the state of the world right now [which] is pretty chaotic.\u201d<\/p>\n Chrystie is married and has two adult children. She is able to get health benefits through her husband\u2019s work. But the loss of her income has strained her family\u2019s finances. <\/p>\n \u201cOur income is one third of what it was and we still have a mortgage. I\u2019m still paying student loans for my kids\u2019 college, the price of groceries is up, the price of electricity is up,\u201d she said. \u201cIf I don\u2019t get a job in the next six months, are we going to have to sell the house? Are we going to have to dip into our 401k? Like, at some point, savings run out.\u201d<\/p>\n The last time she was out of work this long she was 14 years old. She tries to stay optimistic amid rejection notices.<\/p>\n \u201cIt used to be a stigma to be laid off, unemployed, but now it\u2019s so common,\u201d she said. \u201cYou kind of just have to put your big girl pants on.\u201d <\/p>\n Omar Mohammed can be reached at omar.mohammed@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on Twitter (X) @shurufu<\/a>.<\/p>\n