Massachusetts Unemployment Tops 15% in April
BOSTON — The state’s April total unemployment rate was up 12.3% from March at 15.1%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts lost 623,000 jobs in April. This follows last month’s revised loss of 43,800 jobs. The monthly change in the job estimates reflects the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the month, the private sector lost 597,100 jobs as losses occurred in all sectors, the largest of which occurred in leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; construction; and other services. Government lost jobs over the month.
From April 2019 to April 2020, BLS estimates Massachusetts lost 638,000 jobs.
The only private-sector job gain over the year was in information. The remaining private sectors lost jobs over the year, with the largest percentage losses in leisure and hospitality; other services; construction; and trade, transportation, and utilities.
The April unemployment rate was four-tenths of a percentage point higher than the national rate of 14.7% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The labor force decreased by 364,700 from 3,772,000 in March, as 773,500 fewer residents were employed and 408,700 more residents were unemployed over the month.
Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by 12.1%.
The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents age 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — dropped to 60.3%. Compared to April 2019, the labor-force participation rate is down by 7.2%.
