The state Office of Labor and Workforce Development today released town-level unemployment data for July 2009, and the Gateway Cities continue to suffer the worst. See the chart below for rates from the 20 largest Bay State communities, as well as all 14 counties. Names in red indicate an unemployment rate at least 3 points above the state average; those in green have a rate at least 3 points below the state average.

The cities of Fall River, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, and Springfield have significantly higher rates that have also risen faster than the state as a whole. (Lawrence is the highest, at 17.0 percent, but that’s down a bit from 17.2 percent in June.) Brockton, Lynn, Taunton, and Worcester also have double-digit employment rates that have rapidly risen.

Cambridge and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket have low rates that have risen comparatively slowly over the past year. Framingham, Newton, Somerville, and Waltham also have relatively strong job markets (though unemployment has risen to some extent in every major city and town).