Daily News

Massachusetts Unemployment Rate Drops to 4.4% in March

BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate dropped to 4.4% in March from the February rate of 4.5%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported. Preliminary job estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate Massachusetts continues to gain jobs, with 6,900 added in March.

The March gain follows upward revisions for February, with total job gains of 13,900. Preliminary February estimates indicated the state added 13,300 jobs over the month. Massachusetts has added 22,000 jobs year-to-date from March 2015 to March 2016.

In March, over-the-month job gains occurred in the construction; trade, transportation, and utilities; other services; information; education and health services; and government sectors.

“We are very pleased to see the unemployment rate continues to drop and the labor force is increasing,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ronald Walker said. “We see continued job growth in many of the state’s strongest sectors, including health services and education, and professional, scientific, and business services.”

The March state unemployment rate remains lower than the national rate of 5.0% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.