Massachusetts Unemployment Rate Falls in September
BOSTON — The state’s September total unemployment rate is down 1.8 percentage points at 9.6% following a revision to the August rate at 11.4%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts added 36,900 jobs in September. This follows last month’s revised gain of 62,500 jobs. Over the month, the private sector added 49,200 jobs as gains occurred in education and health services; leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation, and utilities; other services; professional, scientific, and business services; manufacturing; construction; financial activities; and information. Government added jobs over the month.
From September 2019 to September 2020, BLS estimates Massachusetts lost 351,800 jobs. Losses occurred in each of the private sectors, with the largest-percentage losses in leisure and hospitality; other services; construction; and trade, transportation, and utilities. The September unemployment rate was 1.7 percentage points above the national rate of 7.9% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The labor force increased by 240,900 from 3,548,600 in August, as 279,000 more residents were employed and 38,000 fewer residents were unemployed over the month. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by 6.8%.
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 — increased to 66.9%. Compared to September 2019, the labor-force participation rate is down by one percentage point.
