Massachusetts Unemployment Remains Under 3% in October
BOSTON — The state’s October total unemployment rate remained at 2.9%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts added 10,300 jobs in October. Over the month, the private sector added 10,800 jobs as gains occurred in education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; trade, transportation, and utilities; manufacturing; other services; leisure and hospitality; information; and construction. From October 2018 to October 2019, BLS estimates Massachusetts added 51,700 jobs.
The October unemployment rate was seven-tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate of 3.6% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Preliminary estimates indicate that the Massachusetts economy has added 45,400 jobs since the beginning of the year, with the bulk of the job gains having come from key economic areas like education and health services as well as professional, scientific, and business services,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said. “The statewide unemployment rate has remained at or below 3% for nine consecutive months, and the 12-month average unemployment rate for black residents of the Commonwealth dropped below 4% for the first time since the recession.”
The labor force increased by 5,600 from 3,839,900 in September, as 5,800 more residents were employed and 200 fewer residents were unemployed over the month.
Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-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 — increased by one-tenth of a point over the month to 67.7%. Compared to October 2018, the labor-force participation rate is down two-tenths of a percentage point.
The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in education and health services; other services; information; and professional, scientific, and business services.
