Massachusetts unemployment rate sees slight decrease in April

The unemployment rate in Massachusetts in April fell to 3.3%, down 0.2 of a percentage point for the second month in a row, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. 

The state’s unemployment rate is 0.1% lower than the national rate of 3.4% reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to a Friday press release from the EOLWD. 

BLS preliminary job estimates suggest there were 99,100 more jobs in Massachusetts in April 2023 as compared to April 2022. More than 5,000 of those jobs were added in the past month, according to BLS, down from 12,100 added in March of this year.

Overall employment in the state is estimated to be at 3,759,200, up nearly 700,000 from an employment low during April 2020 in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the press release.

The labor force participation rate in Massachusetts, made up of state residents aged 16 or older who were employed or were unemployed and actively seeking work in the past four weeks, was 64.9%, down 0.1% from March, and down 0.5% from April 2022, according to the EOLWD.