Massachusetts Unemployment Creeps Down in April
BOSTON — The state’s April total unemployment rate is down 0.2 percentage points at 6.5% following a revision to the March unemployment rate of 6.7%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Friday.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts gained 5,100 jobs in April. This follows last month’s revised gain of 14,800 jobs. Over the month, the private sector added 3,900 jobs as gains occurred across four sectors. Since December 2020, Massachusetts has gained 77,500 jobs. The professional, scientific, and business services sector led in over-the-month gains, with 4,500 (+0.8%) jobs added, while the largest over-the-month losses occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities as well as education and health services, each losing 1,100 jobs.
From April 2020 to April 2021, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 392,300 jobs. Gains occurred over the year in each of the private sectors except for Information, with a small job loss of 200 jobs. The leisure and hospitality sector saw the largest gain of 119,600 (+75.7%) jobs, followed by trade, transportation and utilities, with 88,500 (19%) jobs added over the year.
The April unemployment rate was 0.4% higher than the national rate of 6.1% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The labor force increased by 1,900 from 3,744,400 in March, as 12,400 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 9.9%.
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 – was up one-tenth of a percentage point at 66.4%. Compared to April 2020, the labor-force participation rate is up 6.0%.
