Massachusetts Unemployment Drops Slightly in July

BOSTON — The state’s July total unemployment rate dropped by two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.5% over the month, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts gained 13,500 jobs in July. This follows the previous month’s revised gain of 5,800 jobs. The largest over-the-month private-sector job gains were in professional and business services, education and health services, and other services. Employment now stands at 3,680,100. Since the employment trough in April 2020, Massachusetts gained 629,100 jobs.

From July 2021 to July 2022, BLS estimates Massachusetts gained 134,500 jobs. The largest over-the-year gains occurred in professional, scientific, and business services; leisure and hospitality; and education and health services.

The July unemployment rate of 3.5% was the same as the national rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The labor force decreased by an estimated 7,500 from 3,773,100 in June, as 800 more residents were employed, and 8,300 fewer residents were unemployed over the month. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was down by 2.2%.

The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — was down two-tenths of a percentage point at 65.8%. Compared to July 2021, the labor-force participation rate was up 0.2%.