Massachusetts Unemployment Rate Holds Steady in September
BOSTON — The state’s September total unemployment rate was 2.6%, unchanged from the revised August estimate of 2.6%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts lost 2,800 jobs in September. This follows August’s revised gain of 12,800 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; and trade, transportation, and utilities. Employment now stands at 3,783,300. Massachusetts gained 721,700 jobs since the employment low in April 2020.
From September 2022 to September 2023, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 91,900 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in education and health services; leisure and hospitality; and professional, scientific, and business services.
The state’s September unemployment rate of 2.6% was 1.2% lower than the national rate of 3.8% reported by BLS.
The labor force declined by an estimated 1,200 from the revised estimate of 3,717,400 in August, as 400 more residents were employed and 1,600 fewer residents were unemployed over-the-month. Over-the-year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down by 1.1%.
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 0.1 percentage point to 64.4% over-the-month. Compared to September 2022, the labor-force participation rate was down 0.4%.
