When the Democratic primary between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy began, Massachusetts boasted one of the strongest economies in the country.

Now, the candidates find themselves representing the state with the nation’s highest unemployment rate. Roughly 1 million people in Massachusetts remain out of work, according federal data released Thursday.

Many people who have no symptoms can still carry very high levels of the coronavirus and potentially spread it, according to preliminary research from the Broad Institute in Cambridge that was based on mass testing in Massachusetts nursing homes.

As Connecticut’s utilities struggle to address a million power outages across the state, there’s no official assessment yet as to when they might be able to restore electricity to most homes. And now state regulators have announced an investigation into whether the state’s largest power company, Eversource, underestimated the threat posed by Tropical Storm Isaias.

Isaias ripped through the state Tuesday with wind speeds gusting to 70 mph, felling trees and bringing down power lines in almost every town.