Market Basket Conflict Hits Jobs Numbers Again, This Time in Mass. Report
Earlier this month, the national jobs report showed August to have been a pretty lackluster for growth. Among the reasons cited: the tension at Market Basket, which saw thousands of part-time workers’ hours cut to zero early that month.
Those employees weren’t technically laid off. But they were eligible to apply for unemployment benefits, and it would make sense if they were reported as out of work in the jobs survey.
The national release saw a big net loss in jobs in the food and beverage sectors, and the government. The jobs report underperformed economists’ expectations by more than 80,000 jobs and would have been bad without Market Basket-related losses, but those losses didn’t help, the government said.
On Thursday, Massachusetts released its own August jobs report—and it looks familiar. The state experienced a net loss of 5,300 jobs in August, with the sector that includes retail losing a total of 10,600 jobs. The Bay State report did not specifically name Market Basket, but cited “temporary employment disruptions’’ in retail.
The state report incorporates some of the same numbers as its national counterpart, so the two reports figured to be in agreement on the Market Basket front.
Overall, the state’s unemployment rate bounced to 5.8 percent, from 5.6 percent last month. The manufacturing and construction sectors each lost 700 jobs, according to the report.
With Market Basket more or less back to normal again, it will be interesting to see if that’s reflected in the September numbers when they’re released next month, both nationally and here at home.
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