Maddie Mortell April 22, 2021 4:04 pm While a number of factors challenged Massachusetts renters this past year, unemployment was a big one. In February, at 7.1 percent, the state had the 12th highest unemployment rate in the country, though has since begun to slowly recover. Tenants were protected by a state-level moratorium from March to October 2020 to prevent evictions amid the deadly pandemic, as many became jobless and unable to keep up with rent payments. And a federal ban on evictions was recently extended through June 30. A study published by the grassroots housing justice group City Life/Vida Urbana found that “In the first year of the pandemic, four of the five Boston neighborhoods with the highest rates of eviction filings were majority people of color.” The neighborhoods listed — Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Hyde Park — were also some of the hardest hit by the pandemic, with relatively high COVID-19 infection rates.