BOSTON — Pittsfield saw its seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate drop to 7 percent during the month of July, compared to 7.8 percent jobless rate statewide.

The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Tuesday that the July seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates were down not only in Pittsfield but also in the Framingham, Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, Peabody, Barnstable, Amherst, Great Barrington, Nantucket and Tisbury areas; unchanged in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Worcester and North Adams areas and up in the remaining 10 areas.

The Pittsfield area also had the largest over-the-year growth rate at 5.4 percent followed by the Worcester area, at 3.7

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Allen Harris of Berkshire Money Management is pledging to donate thousands to the Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter as part of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce membership drive.

Harris, a member of the chamber and an advocate for the care of abandoned animals, combined his two philanthropic interests by promising to donate $1,000 to the shelter for every person who joins the Chamber of Commerce through Berkshire Money Management.

"In my business you try to create synergy and leverage in investments. I thought I would try it on the non-profit side," Harris said. "The Sonsini Shelter needed improvements and when we heard about the chamber's

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Chamber of Commerce will offer a workshop designed to help area business owners utilize cutting-edge marketing techniques to generate leads, sales, and overall interest in their business.

"Mobile Marketing 101: Decoding the QR Code" will be held from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 30, at the Beacon Cinema on North Street.

Julie Fruscio, business development and marketing coordinator at Excelsior Printing Co., and Ashley Sulock, director or marketing and communications at the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, will lead the presentation.

The presenters will discuss QR Codes and help attendees understand how to best leverage these

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BOSTON — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Thursday that the preliminary July job estimates show an increase of 12,700 jobs, for a total of 3,246,800 jobs in Massachusetts. The private sector gained 11,600 jobs. The July total unemployment rate remained at 7.6 percent, well below the national rate of 9.1 percent.
 
Six of the 10 private sectors added jobs in July with the largest over the month gains in Education and Health Services; Other Services; Trade, Transportation and Utilities; Manufacturing; Professional and Business Services; and Financial Activities. The July job gain follows a revised 9,400 job gain in June, previously reported as a

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