Unemployment Rate Remains Steady in June
BOSTON — The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 4.2% in June for the third consecutive month, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Thursday.
The preliminary job estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate Massachusetts added 16,400 jobs in June. Some of the job gains reflect the resolution of a temporary labor dispute in the information sector.
Over-the-month job gains occurred in the education and health services; information; professional, scientific, and business services; financial activities; construction; and manufacturing sectors.
Year to date, from December 2015 to June 2016, Massachusetts added 48,100 jobs, and over the year, from June 2015 to June 2016, the state added 67,300 jobs.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised over-the-month job losses initially released for May, reporting job losses totaled 5,200 as opposed to the 6,400 originally estimated.
At 4.2%, the unemployment rate is down 0.7% over the year, with the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropping from 4.9% in June 2015. There were 25,000 fewer unemployed people and 49,600 more employed people over the year compared to June 2015. The Commonwealth’s unemployment rate remains lower than the national rate of 4.9% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The good news here is all private sectors show over-the-year job gains with the exception of manufacturing, and private-sector job gains are up 2.2% over the year,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ronald Walker II said.
The state’s labor-orce participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — decreased slightly to 64.9%. The labor-force participation rate over the year has decreased 0.1% compared to June 2015.
Over the year, the private sectors with the largest percentage job gains were construction; education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; information; and financial activities.
