Mass. payrolls grow by 8,200 in June

BOSTON – Bay State payrolls grew last month by 8,200 workers or 0.25 percent, accelerating from May’s revised gain of 2,300 jobs or 0.7 percent, according to the Mass. Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. That helped bring down the unemployment rate to 4.9 percent in June from 5.1 percent in May, while the national rate was unchanged at 4.5 percent.
The state has added jobs in eight of the past nine months, the EOLWD said. Based on its monthly survey of 9,000 employers, the agency estimated the total number of jobs statewide at 3.28 million in June, 35,000 jobs or 1.1 percent more than in June 2006. Nearly two thirds of those new jobs – 23,200 – were added in the first half of this year.
Job growth was strongest last month in education and health services, which grew by 2,700 jobs to a record 622,200, and leisure and hospitality, which added 2,900 jobs to a record 298,900. Growth also was seen in professional, scientific and business services (+2,400); information (+700); trade transportation and utilities (+600); and financial activities (+600). In the goods-producing sector, an increase in jobs in construction (+600) was offset by a decline in non-durable manufacturing (-600).
Meanwhile, the state’s labor force grew by 7,900 workers in June to 3.43 million. The report credited a 13,100 increase in the number of employed residents and a 5,100 decrease in the number of residents without jobs. The labor force was 24,000 workers greater than a year ago.
Additional labor market information, including the full June employment report, is available from the Mass. Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development at www.mass.gov/eolwd.

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