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September 15, 2016

Unemployment falls to 2001 levels

SHNS The office of Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ronald Walker II has released the latest unemployment data for the state.

The Massachusetts unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent in August, the first time it has fallen below 4 percent in more than a decade.

The Bay State added 5,900 jobs in August and 5,800 jobs in July, which is a smaller amount than the initial job estimate for July.

As the state's job base has grown state tax revenue growth has been slow, falling $36 million below reduced expectations so far in fiscal 2017.

The last time the unemployment rate dipped below 4 percent was August 2001, a period at the tail end of the dot-com boom of business rushing onto the internet and immediately before the Sept. 11 attacks that ushered in years of war.

Last month's unemployment rate is nearly a full percentage point below the 4.8 percent unemployment rate in August 2015. There are 30,300 fewer unemployed residents and 73,000 more employed residents compared to August of a year ago, the Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported on Thursday.

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