State Unemployment Rate Remains at 4.2% in May
BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate remained at 4.2% in May, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Thursday.
The preliminary May job estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate that Massachusetts lost 6,400 jobs. Job losses were impacted by a temporary labor dispute in the information sector. In May, leisure and hospitality was the only sector to experience over-the-month job gains.
BLS also revised upward the state’s over-the-month job gains in April, reporting that 15,200 jobs were added compared to the 13,900-job gain originally reported. From December 2015 to May 2016, Massachusetts has added 30,500 jobs.
At 4.2%, the unemployment rate is down 0.7% over the year, with the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropping from 4.9% in May 2015. There were 26,600 fewer unemployed persons and 49,000 more employed persons over the year compared to May 2015. The Commonwealth’s May unemployment rate remains lower than the national rate of 4.7% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The labor force continues to grow, with 7,000 more employed residents and 2,000 fewer unemployed residents in May,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ronald Walker II said, adding that the education and healthcare sector and the professional, scientific, and business-services sector continue to generate the most jobs in Massachusetts.
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 at 65.0%. The labor-force participation rate over the year has decreased 0.2% compared to May 2015.
Over the year, the largest private-sector percentage job gains by sector were in construction; professional, scientific, and business services; other services; and leisure and hospitality.
