Mass. unemployment rate drops to 7.8 percent

BOSTON – Massachusetts’ unemployment rate in April was 7.8 percent, down 0.2 of a percentage point from the 8 percent March rate, according to the Mass. Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
The department’s preliminary April job estimates show 3.22 million jobs in Massachusetts, an increase of 19,500 jobs. The private sector added 20,500 jobs.
According to a news release, job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; manufacturing; professional, scientific, and business services; financial activities; construction; information; and mining and logging. Government and other services lost jobs.
The department said April’s job gain follows a revised 1,300 jobs loss in March, previously reported as a 3,200 job gain.
The Massachusetts unemployment rate remains below the national rate, which is 9 percent. &#8226