The unemployment rate in Massachusetts stayed at 2.8% in January, for the sixth consecutive month, according to a Friday announcement from the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
The national unemployment rate is 3.6%.
On the local level, the last updated unemployment numbers were for December, when Worcester city had a 2.8% unemployment rate, the same as its November rate and an improvement from the 3.0% rate in December 2018.
Worcester County had a 2.6% unemployment rate in December, up slightly from 2.5% in November but an improvement from 2.9% in December 2018.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminarily estimated Massachusetts added 11,800 jobs in January, including 11,100 jobs in the private sector.
In January 2019, the Massachusetts unemployment rate was 3.1%. Since then, BLS estimates the state added 33,400 jobs.
