Mass. Unemployment Stays At 6.7%
Unemployment in the Bay State remained unchanged in January, holding at 6.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Meanwhile, the state added 16,100 jobs during the month.
The biggest job gains came from professional, scientific and business services, which added 5,100 positions, leisure and hospitality, which added 3,300, and trade, transportation and utilities, which added 2,400. Construction also picked up 2,400 jobs.
Losses came from the government sector, which shed 3,200 jobs, mostly split between the local and state sides.
The BLS also released revised jobs numbers for 2011 and 2012, which showed that the commonwealth created 92,800 jobs, 32,100 more than previously estimated. Revisions to the unemployment rate were mostly unchanged, with the rate for all of 2012 between 6.6 and 6.8 percent.
Every year, the BLS releases year-end revisions to its previous estimates, which are initially based on surveys. The benchmark revisions are based on actual data collected from employers through September.
Revisions were up for the education and health services sector, which initially showed job gains of 300 in 2011 and 7,300 in 2012. According to the BLS, the state actually added 13,800 jobs in that sector in 2011 and 13,900 in 2012.
Initial estimates showed a decline of 2,000 construction jobs in 2011 and a gain of 300 in 2012. Revisions pushed the sector into gains of 5,400 and 2,400, respectively.
Also revised out of of negative territory was the leisure and hospitality sector, which initially showed losses of 2,200 in 2011 and gains of 6,300 in 2012. The new data said there were actually 7,200 jobs added in 2011 and 10,700 the next year.
Manufacturing took a hit in revisions. Initially, gains were reported for 2012 and losses the previous year. However, revisions knocked both years into the negative territory. Previous estimates said manufacturing jobs grew by 2,300 in 2011 and declined by 1,100 in 2012, but the new numbers said the sector lost 1,100 jobs in 2011 and 2,500 more in 2012.
While not showing losses for the sector, professional, scientific and business services data revisions were mixed, from adding 9,900 jobs in 2011 and 22,800 last year, to 16,200 and 9,300, respectively.
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