Two years since the onset of COVID-19 in our region, several communities of the Merrimack Valley are now at or below their pre-pandemic levels from March 2020. Amesbury, Boxford, Groveland, Merrimack, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury, and West Newbury have achieved this economic benchmark, with several others close behind. Our gateway cities continue to see elevated unemployment compared to the rest of the region, but have reached their lowest levels since their peak in the middle of the pandemic.
| Community | March ’20 Unemployment % | December ’21 Unemployment % |
| Amesbury | 2.7 | 2.5 |
| Andover | 2.2 | 2.4 |
| Boxford | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| Georgetown | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| Groveland | 2.5 | 1.9 |
| Haverhill | 2.2 | 4.2 |
| Lawrence | 5.1 | 7.4 |
| Merrimac | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Methuen | 3.2 | 4.6 |
| Newbury | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| Newburyport | 2.4 | 1.7 |
| North Andover | 2.3 | 3.2 |
| Rowley | 3.3 | 2.9 |
| Salisbury | 3.4 | 3.3 |
| West Newbury | 2.1 | 2.2 |
About this data: The Merrimack Valley October unemployment snapshot contains the state-reported municipal-level data as non-seasonally adjusted. This means that fluctuations in unemployment may be due to changes in seasonal work and may not be a complete picture of the workforce. Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment numbers actually suggest a continued decrease in unemployment throughout Massachusetts since June 2020, as shown in the bold green line on the graph above.
Data Source: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Labor Market Information
For additional community data check out our DATA PORTAL.
For more information about our Economic and Community Development initiatives, visit our program page