Hospitality, Retail Trade, Healthcare Among ‘Most Vulnerable Industries’ in Terms of Unemployment due to COVID-19

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

New Pioneer Institute analysis looks at Massachusetts industries hardest hit by March unemployment claims

BOSTON – Recent data provided by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development show that hospitality, retail trade, healthcare and social assistance, and construction are the industries that have suffered the most unemployment as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the new Pioneer Institute report, A Look at the Massachusetts Industries that Are Most Vulnerable Due to COVID-19.

“The COVID-19 shutdown has obviously affected different parts of the economy differently,” says Executive Director Jim Stergios. “This is the first attempt to quantify the impacts, and this kind of work is the only way to craft solutions for our regional economies as Massachusetts turns its attention to opening up for business again.”

March saw the highest spike in unemployment claims in history, and the trend continued in the first two weeks of April.

While highlighting the four industries hardest hit by the pandemic, the Pioneer study, entitled A Look at the Massachusetts Industries that Are Most Vulnerable Due to COVID-19shows that local economies may be impacted by these trends based on their proportion of area jobs in these ‘vulnerable’ sectors.

In addition to each municipality being affected differently due to the makeup of its local economy, the hardest-hit municipalities also fall into various geographic clusters.

For example, the ten municipalities with the highest percentage of their total jobs in the hospitality super sector, which is made up of accommodation and food services as well as arts, recreation, and entertainment, are all found in either Western Massachusetts or the Cape and Islands. These towns represent economies that are made up of anywhere from 40 to 75 percent of total jobs in Hospitality, and the dire unemployment trends in this sector do not bode well for these communities which may be reliant on this sector.

Another example is the clustering of affected economies by community sub-type, as defined by the Massachusetts Area Planning Council. Towns with the highest percentage of total jobs in construction tend to be classified as more ‘rural’ or ‘developing’ community types, and they may experience more unemployment claims because of the proportion of construction jobs in these areas. Additionally, municipalities within these community sub types may require more consideration with respect to decisions regarding re-opening the economy and essential versus non-essential businesses.

“Boston is considered a hub of healthcare and social assistance, with roughly 20 percent of jobs in Boston in 2018 in this sector,” says Rebekah Paxton, co-author of the report, with Greg Sullivan. “However, there are municipalities with nearly half of their total jobs in healthcare across the state, including Sandisfield, Melrose, and Brookline.”

Interestingly, the retail trade sector jumped in the number of unemployment claims in April, despite being down the list after the initial unemployment data was released for March.

This analysis is important to understand the variety of economic impacts that will affect each municipality in the Commonwealth. While different sectors are experiencing shutdowns, adjustments, and layoffs, the municipalities that will be affected most acutely are those that have high proportions of their local economies within a single sector, and therefore may be reliant on these sectors to emerge from the crisis.

About the Authors

Gregory Sullivan is Pioneer’s Research Director. Prior to joining Pioneer, Sullivan served two five-year terms as Inspector General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and held several positions within that office previously. Sullivan was a 17-year member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, serving on the committees of Ways and Means, Human Services, and Post-Audit and Oversight. Greg holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, a master’s degree in public administration from The Kennedy School of Public Administration at Harvard, and a master’s degree from the Sloan School at M.I.T., with a concentration in finance.

Rebekah Paxton is a Research Analyst at Pioneer Institute. She has worked on various research projects under PioneerPublic and PioneerOpportunity, in areas of state finance, public policy, and labor relations. Currently she works on research using Pioneer’s employment database and the MassEconomix.org project. She earned a Master’s degree in Political Science and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics, from Boston University, where she graduated summa cum laude.

About Pioneer

Pioneer Institute is an independent, non-partisan, privately funded research organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts through civic discourse and intellectually rigorous, data-driven public policy solutions based on free market principles, individual liberty and responsibility, and the ideal of effective, limited and accountable government.

Get Our COVID-19 News, Tips & Resources!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Recent Posts

U-Arkansas Prof. Patrick Wolf on School Choice, Espinoza, & Students’ Civic Prep

/
U-Arkansas Prof. Patrick Wolf joins The Learning Curve to discuss school choice, the Supreme Court's Espinoza case, & students’ civic preparation.

COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Hope for a vaccine; Open Meeting violations; Holyoke Soldiers Home report; COVID & foster care; Re-opening the beaches; the fate of college towns; COVID’s economic toll on Bay State cities & more!

/
Pioneer staff share their top picks for COVID-19 stories highlighting useful resources, best practices, and questions we should be asking our public and private sector leaders.

Announcing the Pioneer Institute & Nichols College Sports Management Policy College Case Competition

/
In recognition of the cancellation of many student internships…

Pulitzer Winner Diane McWhorter on Civil Rights History & Race in America

/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard mark the Juneteenth commemoration of the end of slavery with an episode devoted to Civil Rights history. They are joined by Diane McWhorter, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution.

Coronavirus Hits Back on Communities Who Slowed Their Spread

/
“This couldn’t come at a worse time,” said rep. Bill Keating…

Combatting COVID-19: Life in the MGH Emergency Room

/
Join host Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer Senior Fellow Josh Archambault as they talk with Dr. David King about the experience of being in emergent care during a pandemic and lockdown. They explore the challenges of coping with a poorly understood virus during a lockdown, all while continuing to serve the sick.

New Pioneer Institute Hotline Allows Public to Report Violations of Open Meeting Law

/
With most public meetings taking place remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pioneer Institute has unveiled an online hotline that allows members of the public to report potential violations of the Commonwealth’s and other states' Open Meeting Law.

Pandemic, Lost Instructional Time Reveal Massachusetts’ Digital Learning Weaknesses

A report released today by Pioneer Institute says that the shutdown of Massachusetts schools due to the COVID-19 virus and the shift to online education have exposed the uneven nature of digital learning in the Commonwealth, and calls for state officials to develop programs to create more consistency.

Pioneer Institute Study Calls for Streamlining State Sales Tax Revenue Collection

At a time when state tax revenues are plummeting, a plan to modernize sales tax collection could get money into state coffers more quickly, according to a new policy brief published by Pioneer Institute.

COVID-19 Roundup from Pioneer: Hubwonk: Elections & COVID-19; Update: Mapping COVID Testing; School Reopening; Protecting Civil Liberties, & more!

/
Pioneer staff share their top picks for COVID-19 stories highlighting useful resources, best practices, and questions we should be asking our public and private sector leaders.

Hubwonk Ep. 9: Elections in Epidemics: Keeping Voters Safe & Elections Fair during COVID-19

/
Join Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer’s Mary Connaughton as they talk with MIT Professor Charles Stewart on how states in general, and Massachusetts in particular, are adapting their voting process to keep elections safe, transparent, and fair during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Update: “Mapping COVID-19” Tool Now Shows Testing Data

/
Now, in addition to maps and tables regarding the number of cases and case rates across the state, “Mapping COVID-19” also includes information regarding the testing efforts in the Commonwealth.