Daily News

Massachusetts Unemployment Holds Steady in November

BOSTON — The state’s November total unemployment rate remained at 2.9%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate that Massachusetts added 5,200 jobs in November. Over the month, the private sector added 4,900 jobs, as gains occurred in leisure and hospitality; education and health services; financial activities; professional, scientific, and business services; trade, transportation, and utilities; manufacturing; and information. Losses occurred in construction and other services, while government added jobs over the month. 

From November 2018 to November 2019, BLS estimates Massachusetts added 48,600 jobs. 

The November unemployment rate was six-tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.5% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Eleven months of preliminary job estimates indicate that 2019 will be another strong year for the Massachusetts economy,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said. “Nearly 50,000 jobs have been added year to date. The unemployment rate has remained at 2.9% for five consecutive months and is 0.6% below the U.S. average. Education and health services maintain the distinction of having added the most jobs and the largest growth rate in the Commonwealth, accounting for nearly half of all the private-sector jobs added since December of 2018.”

The labor force increased by 4,100 from 3,845,600 in October, as 4,900 more residents were employed and 800 fewer residents were unemployed over the month.

Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point.

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 — remained at 67.7%. Compared to November 2018, the labor-force participation rate is down two-tenths of a percentage point.

The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in education and health services, other services, information, and financial activities.