The unemployment rate in Massachusetts in August was 3.6%, one-tenth of a percentage point higher than in July and down 1.9 percentage points year-over-year.
The leisure and hospitality sector was the biggest gainer, adding 5,300 jobs from July to August and 34,300 over the year, as the industry recovers from the worst of the COVID pandemic, according to a Friday press release from the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
Other sectors adding jobs were trade, transportation and utilities; education and health services; and financial activities.
The August unemployment rate of 3.6% was one-tenth of a percentage point below the national rate of 3.7% reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
