Employment Expert Says the Recession is Over in Westford

Is the recession over? It may be in Westford.

Following the recent announcement from the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development that unemployment , one area employment expert believes that a figure that low indicates the recession has ended here in town.

Matt Katz, regional vice president of the Robert Half International staffing agency, has seen marked growth in communities north of Boston such as Westford recently, a trend that goes against any indications that the recession is still impacting Westford as it is in some other parts of the country.

“I know there are definitely a bunch of companies in Westford that are solid employers,” said Katz. “We do a lot of work out there in the software and high tech space, but to be below the Massachusetts rate, which is already low, is phenomenal, and it doesn’t surprise me either.”

Westford’s current situation shows a vast change from the height of the depression, when Katz found that most employers using his firm were not thinking of bringing on full time employees.

“It’s completely night and day,” he said. “I’d say nine of out of ten of our clients then weren’t thinking of bringing anyone on, that it wasn’t in the budget. To be honest with you, right now we almost have more jobs than qualified candidates.”

December figures put the unemployment rate at 6.5 percent statewide and 8.4 nationally.