Massachusetts Unemployment Slightly Down in June
BOSTON — The state’s June total unemployment rate was 2.6%, down 0.2% from the revised May estimate of 2.8%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts lost 4,500 jobs in June. This follows May’s revised gain of 7,300 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in professional, scientific, and business services; financial activities; and leisure and hospitality. Employment now stands at 3,762,800. Massachusetts gained 701,200 jobs since the employment low in April 2020.
From June 2022 to June 2023, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 96,200 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; and leisure and hospitality.
The state’s June unemployment rate of 2.6% was 1.0 percentage point below the national rate of 3.6% reported by BLS.
The labor force decreased by an estimated 7,400 from the revised estimate of 3,728,300 in May, as 2,100 more residents were employed and 9,500 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 by 0.1 percentage point to 64.6% over the month. Compared to June 2022, the labor-force participation rate was down 0.7%.
