BOSTON (AP) — The unemployment rate in Massachusetts increased by two-tenths of a percentage point in September to 5.2% but the state added nearly 12,000 new jobs in the month, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said Friday.
The state’s September unemployment rate was 0.4 percentage point higher than the national rate of 4.8% reported by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The state’s September 2020 rate was 8.9%.
Massachusetts gained 11,900 jobs in September, up from a revised number of 3,400 jobs gained the previous month.
The largest private sector job gains were in education and health services. The construction, professional and business services, and government sectors lost the most over the month.
Since December, Massachusetts has gained 159,900 jobs.
The unemployment rate is based on a monthly sample of households. The job estimates are derived from a monthly sample survey of employers. As a result, the two statistics may exhibit different monthly trends.
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