Massachusetts Unemployment Creeps Up in February
BOSTON — The state’s February total unemployment rate was 3.7%, up two-tenths of a percentage point from the revised January estimate of 3.5%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Friday.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts gained 3,000 jobs in February.This follows January’s revised gain of 8,900 jobs. The largest over-the-month, private-sector job gains were in professional, scientific, and business services; education and health services; and trade, transportation, and utilities. Employment now stands at 3,735,800. Since the employment trough in April 2020, Massachusetts has gained 674,200 jobs.
From February 2022 to February 2023, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 91,700 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in professional, scientific, and business services; education and health services; and leisure and hospitality.
The February unemployment rate of 3.7% was 0.1 percentage point above the national rate of 3.6% reported by BLS.
The labor force increased by an estimated 11,700 from 3,729,800 in January, as 6,800 more residents were employed and 4,800 more residents were unemployed over-the-month. Over-the-year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down by 0.2%.
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 by 0.2% to 65.0% over-the-month. Compared to February 2022, the labor-force participation rate was down 0.4%.
