Daily News

Massachusetts Unemployment Remains Unchanged in January

BOSTON — The state’s January total unemployment remained unchanged at 2.8% for the sixth consecutive month, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Friday. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts added 11,800 jobs in January. Over the month, the private sector added 11,100 jobs as gains occurred in trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; financial activities; leisure and hospitality; other services; information; construction; and manufacturing.

From January 2019 to January 2020, BLS estimates Massachusetts added 33,400 jobs. 

The January unemployment rate was eight-tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.6% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Following year-end revisions, BLS now estimates Massachusetts added 33,400 jobs over the year. In addition to those job gains, the labor force increased by 27,000 from last year’s level, with 39,400 more residents employed and 12,300 fewer residents unemployed,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said.

The labor force increased by 1,900 from 3,834,300 in December, as 2,300 more residents were employed and 400 fewer residents were unemployed over the month.

Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped three-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 unchanged at 67.9%. Compared to January 2019, the labor-force participation rate is up two-tenths of a percentage point. 

The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in information; education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; and construction.