Mass. unemployment falls to 6.8%
The Bay State’s jobless rate fell in January despite the loss of 4,500 jobs over the past month, the Patrick administration said today.
Unemployment in Massachusetts fell from 7.1 percent in December to 6.8 percent, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. That’s 0.1 percent lower than the jobless rate in January 2013.
The biggest gains by industry in January came in construction (2,900 additional jobs) and information (1,600). The two sectors have seen a combined employment gain of 9,000 over the past year.
The most significant job losses came in trade, transportation and utilities (down 6,700 jobs), government (2,900) and professional, scientific and business services (1,400). But the sectors still added a combined 17,500 jobs year-over-year.
Revised figures indicate the commonwealth added 55,200 jobs over 2013, which represents the largest number of jobs created over a calendar year since 2000.
“We are moving beyond a simple recovery,” said Greg Bialecki, secretary of housing and economic development. “We feel much more confident that we’ll continue to see job growth that’s new.”
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