Massachusetts Unemployment Creeps Up in October
BOSTON — The state’s October total unemployment rate was 2.8%, up 0.2% from the revised September estimate of 2.6%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts lost 800 jobs in October. This follows September’s revised loss of 2,600 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in education and health services, other services, and construction. Employment now stands at 3,782,700. Massachusetts gained 721,100 jobs since the employment low in April 2020.
From October 2022 to October 2023, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 77,100 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; and construction.
The state’s October unemployment rate of 2.8% was 1.1% lower than the national rate of 3.9% reported by BLS.
The labor force grew by an estimated 5,600 from the revised estimate of 3,716,000 in September, as 500 fewer residents were employed and 6,200 more residents were unemployed over-the-month. Over-the-year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down by 1.0%.
The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents age 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — increased by 0.1% to 64.5% over-the-month. Compared to October 2022, the labor-force participation rate was down 0.3%.
