Massachusetts Unemployment Creeps Up in August
BOSTON — The state’s August total unemployment rate was 3.7%, a 0.2% increase from the revised July estimate of 3.5%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced. The Massachusetts unemployment rate was 0.5% lower than the national rate of 4.2% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was up by 0.4%.
The labor force increased by an estimated 15,500 from the revised estimate of 3,828,700 in July, with 5,300 more residents employed and 10,300 more residents unemployed over the month. 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 — increased 0.2% over the month, to 66.3%, the highest it has been since January 2020. Compared to August 2023, the labor-force participation rate increased 1.3% over the year.
The BLS preliminary job estimates for Massachusetts increased by 1,300 jobs in August. This follows July’s revised loss of 4,100 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in construction; education and health services; and trade, transportation, and utilities. Employment now stands at 3,749,700. Massachusetts gained 686,200 jobs since the employment low in April 2020.
From August 2023 to August 2024, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 40,000 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in education and health services, government, and leisure and hospitality.
