Mass. unemployment drops slightly in June to 3.7%

Massachusetts unemployment rate dropped by two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.7% in June.

Preliminary job estimates indicate that Massachusetts gained 3,400 jobs in June, compared with a revised gain of 400 jobs in May, according to data released Friday by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

In May, the Massachusetts unemployment rate was 3.9%. The June rate was 0.1 percentage point above the national rate.

Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is down by 2.3 percentage points, while the state gained 164,700 jobs since June 2021.

The big winner in this month’s report was the construction industry which gained 3,300 jobs in June compared with 13,000 over the year. The gain happens as builders face increased prices for materials and fuel.

The leisure and hospitality sector continued to gain jobs in June as part of an increase of 58,300 over the year, as the industry recovers from the loss of business from the first two years of the COVID pandemic.