Massachusetts Unemployment Down Slightly in April
BOSTON — The state’s April total unemployment rate was 3.3%, down 0.2% from the revised March estimate of 3.5%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts gained 5,100 jobs in April. This follows March’s revised gain of 12,100 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in education and health services; information; and professional, scientific, and business services. Employment now stands at 3,759,200. Massachusetts gained 697,600 jobs since the employment low in April 2020.
From April 2022 to April 2023, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 99,100 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; and leisure and hospitality.
The state’s April unemployment rate of 3.3% was 0.1 percentage point below the national rate of 3.4% reported by BLS.
The labor force decreased by an estimated 2,200 from the revised estimate of 3,741,200 in March, as 8,300 more residents were employed and 10,500 fewer residents were unemployed over-the-month. Over-the-year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down by 0.4%.
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 0.1 percentage point to 64.9% over-the-month. Compared to April 2022, the labor-force participation rate was down 0.5%.
