Mass. ends 2024 with third highest unemployment rate of the year
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Unemployment rose in Massachusetts to 4.2% in December.
The Massachusetts unemployment rose for the fourth consecutive month in December, marking the state’s third highest unemployment rate for 2024.
The commonwealth’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points from 3.9% in November to 4.2% in December. Last month’s rate was 0.4 percentage points higher than the nation’s average, which sat at its third lowest rate of the year at 3.8%, according to a Friday press release from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
December’s rate was only surpassed last year by Massachusetts’ unemployment in July and August. July’s rate of 4.6% was the state's highest unemployment in a year, and now the highest in a year and a half. The unemployment rate in August remained elevated, dipping 0.1 percentage points to 4.5%.
The state’s labor force continued to rise in December, growing by 19,174 to 38.6 million. The state’s labor force participation rate, a category defined as the number of residents 16 years and older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks, grew last month, gaining 2,005 individuals to 58.1 million.
The education and health services sector gained 4,200 jobs over the month in December, the most of the 10 sectors reported on by the BLS. The field surpassed all other sectors with the most over-the-year growth, gaining 18,900 jobs since December 2023.
Professional, scientific, and business services came in at a far second, adding 1,800 jobs over the month, followed by leisure and hospitality, which gained 1,200.
Financial activities lost 600 jobs over the month, the most of the 10 sectors reported. At the same time, the field ended 2024 in an upward swing, having gained 200 over-the-year. The construction industry lost the second largest amount of jobs in December, losing 500 jobs over the month, followed by the information sector, which lost 400. Information lost the most jobs over the year, dropping 5,400 since December 2023.
Since unemployment rate estimates are gathered through a monthly sample of households and job estimates are collected via a monthly sample survey of employers, the two statistics may show divergent monthly trends, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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