Massachusetts Unemployment Ticks Down in May
BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate for May was 2.8%, down 0.3 percentage points from the revised April estimate of 3.1%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts gained 5,700 jobs in May. This follows April’s revised gain of 5,900 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in education and health services; trade, transportation, and utilities; and manufacturing. Employment now stands at 3,765,700. Massachusetts gained 704,100 jobs since the employment low in April 2020.
From May 2022 to May 2023, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 105,100 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; and government.
The state’s May unemployment rate of 2.8% was 0.9% below the national rate of 3.7% reported by BLS.
The labor force decreased by an estimated 3,800 from the revised estimate of 3,732,000 in April, as 5,400 more residents were employed and 9,200 fewer residents were unemployed over the month. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down by 0.9%.
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% to 64.7% over the month. Compared to May 2022, the labor-force participation rate was down 0.7%.
