Mass. Jobless Rate Could Creep Above US Average

It's been more than six years since the monthly unemployment rate in Massachusetts has been higher than the U.S. average as a whole. That could possibly change when the state's November jobs report is released Thursday. The national unemployment rate for November dropped to a five-year low of 7 percent. The Massachusetts jobless rate has been creeping up of late and stood at 7.2 percent in October. If it does not decline by at least two-tenths of a point, November would mark the first month since May 2007 that the Bay State's jobless rate was above the national rate.