Mass. unemployment rate bounces back to 3.9%, setting new pandemic low
Photo | Grant Welker
Customers and workers inside B.T.'s Fried Chicken and BBQ in Worcester.
Massachusetts’ unemployment rate saw a significant drop in unemployment in December, decreasing to 3.9%, the lowest it’s been before the coronavirus pandemic.
December’s rate marks a 1.3-percentage-point decrease from November, which was 5.2%, according to a Friday press release from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. November’s unemployment figure was originally calculated at 5.4%, which meant Massachusetts was the only state in the nation with a rising unemployment rate, but that was no longer the case after the figure was readjusted in January to 5.2%.
Since the coronavirus pandemic wreaked economic havoc starting in March 2020, Massachusetts’ lowest unemployment rate has been 4.9%, so December’s rate was a record low for the pandemic and a 4.5-percentage-point increase from December 2020. The rate was 2.7% before the pandemic struck.
The state’s unemployment rate is the same as the national rate reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to the press release.
BLS’ preliminary job estimates show the state gained more than 20,000 jobs in December, roughly 6,000 more than it gained in November.
The state’s labor force participation rate, which is the number of residents over 16 years old who worked or actively sought work, dropped 0.7 percentage points to 65.4%. This is 1.1 percentage points lower than the December 2020 labor force participation rate.
Leisure and hospitality gained the most jobs over the month, with 4,400 jobs added and a nearly 26% increase from this time last year.
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