Massachusetts Unemployment Creeps Down in November
BOSTON — The state’s November total unemployment rate was 3.4%, down one-tenth of a percentage point over-the-month, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts gained 17,300 jobs in November. This follows the previous month’s revised gain of 10,000 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in leisure and hospitality; education and health services; and trade, transportation, and utilities. Employment now stands at 3,710,600. Since the employment trough in April 2020, Massachusetts has gained 677,100 jobs.
From November 2021 to November 2022, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 144,200 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, education and health services, and professional and business services.
The November unemployment rate of 3.4% was three-tenths of a percentage point below the national rate of 3.7% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The labor force decreased by an estimated 13,000 from 3,745,600 in October, with 7,300 fewer residents employed and 5,800 fewer residents unemployed over-the-month.
Over-the-year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down by 1.4%.
The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — dropped by 0.2% to 65.3% over-the-month. Compared to November 2021, the labor-force participation rate was down three-tenths of a percentage point.
