Unemployment Rates Up Across State in January

BOSTON — Local unemployment rates increased in all 24 labor-market areas in the state during the month of January, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported. Compared to January 2016, the rates were down in all areas.

All 15 areas for which job estimates are published recorded seasonal job losses in January, with the largest losses in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Springfield, Worcester, Peabody-Salem-Beverly, Barnstable, and Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton areas.

From January 2016 to January 2017, however, 13 of the 15 areas added jobs, with the largest percentage gains in the Barnstable, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, New Bedford, and Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury areas.

In order to compare the statewide rate to local unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the statewide unadjusted unemployment rate for January was 4.0%.

The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 3.2% in the month of January. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 13,000-job gain in January, and an over-the-year gain of 65,100 jobs.

The unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates.

The estimates for labor force, unemployment rates, and jobs for Massachusetts are based on different statistical methodology specified by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.