Massachusetts Unemployment Rate Creeps Down in June
BOSTON — The state’s total June unemployment rate dropped by two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.7% over the month, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts gained 3,400 jobs in June, following the previous month’s revised gain of 400 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in construction, professional and business services, and information. Employment now stands at 3,664,200. Since the employment trough in April 2020, Massachusetts has gained 613,200 jobs.
From June 2021 to June 2022, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 164,700 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in leisure and hospitality; professional, scientific, and business services; and education and health services.
The June unemployment rate of 3.7% was 0.1 percentage point above the national rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The labor force decreased by an estimated 2,300 from 3,775,600 in May, as 4,400 more residents were employed, and 6,700 fewer residents were unemployed over the month. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down by 2.3%.
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 steady at 66.0%. Compared to June 2021, the labor-force participation rate was up 0.3%.
