Yesterday the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced that Massachusetts’ unemployment rate in January held steady at 6.9 percent (compared to 8.3 percent nationally) and that 6,600 jobs were added by Massachusetts employers. The state Department of Labor also reported revised jobs figures for 2011, including a dramatic revision to the overall number of jobs created last year. The revised data states that just over 9,000 jobs were created in Massachusetts during 2011, compared with initial estimates of nearly 41,000 jobs. Local economists are somewhat surprised by the change and believe the real number is somewhere between the two figures.

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