New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
No. New Bedford’s unemployment rates are not accurate. It’s not even debatable. What is debatable is how much lower it actually is.
After the crash of 2008, unemployment numbers skyrocketed reaching a nationwide high of 8.7% in November of 2009 and steadily declining since then. As of April 2014 the nationwide average was at 6.3%. New Bedford’s unemployment rate currently sits at 10.4% when the state average is exactly 6.0%.
This paints a picture that New Bedford is filled with almost double the amount of the state’s average in terms of jobless. New Bedford is Massachusetts “Detroit.” What a pile of hogwash.
New Bedford has always had a dark history. A city that was once considered the world’s richest city in 1853, has always attracted the criminal element. Where there’s abundance, there will always be someone trying to get a slice of the pie through dishonest means.
New Bedford has a sizable underground or “black” economy – a large community of people who make money “under the table” or through illegal, illicit methods. Drug dealers, pill dealers, gang members, fences, thieves, prostitutes, and their pimps all generate income. Many do this while simultaneously collecting unemployment.
Take a ride through the “ghetto” or poorer sections of the city. You’ll see Lexus’, BMWs, Escalades, all with expensive rims, and sound systems that are worth more than your car. You’ll see folks walking around with $250 pairs of sneakers, high end watches, top of the line “gear” – pants, shirts and jackets worth hundreds – gold necklaces, etc.
This is a lifestyle that is kept up with the dual income of unemployment/welfare and illegal activities. While working “under the table” seems lesser of the two evils, it is still illegal – and to stay on topic: it skews the unemployment numbers.
How many drug dealers, thieves, prostitutes, etc. do you think there are in the city? Read any daily headlines to see rims being stolen, cars and homes being broken into, thieves brazenly taking people’s smartphones and laptops from them in broad daylight, convenience stores being robbed, or worse. Drive down Ashley Boulevard near Route 18 any time after 8:00pm and you’ll see a half dozen prostitutes with their pimps, and a number of drug dealers standing on corners.
How do I know these people are prostitutes and drug dealers? Because they advertise it verbally. I’ve had prostitutes walk right up to my car window and ask “Do you want to &%(* me in the *#&?” A drug dealer once was a town crier of sorts and said to me “Cocaine? Cocaine? Cocaine?” They aren’t even afraid of the police or getting caught. By the way, I replied with “No. No. No.”
Then there is the Grey Market. “How many friends do you know do something “under the table”? Mow someone’s lawn, fix their car, repair a leaky pipe, or stop reporting their wages at 40 hours to buck child support services? Sell “pot” on the side? How many people do you think smoke marijuana?
I’m not passing judgement on these folks – in this article anyway. My sole point is that the illegal workforce and economy is a vibrant and robust one. There are thousands of “employed” people making millions of dollars.
So, is our 10.4% a little lower or a lot lower? Conservatively, one could say it’s about 8%. Is it more like the state average? Or is the black economy so large that New Bedford may even have a lower than state average unemployment rate? It is my opinion, that we are at least in line with the state’s average…perhaps even lower.
