In a press release issued today, the Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development offers a very positive outlook for the local employment market. The office announced that, according to revised benchmark numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Massachusetts employers added a total of almost 93,000 new jobs over the past two years, 32,100 more jobs than previously estimated. Revisions to the statewide unemployment rate did not change much in 2012 and show that the unemployment rate for every month in 2012 was between 6.6% and 6.8%.

In January 2013, the Massachusetts unemployment rate was 6.7% and more than 16,000 new jobs were added to the economy.

Every year the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases year-end revisions to its previous estimates for job growth and unemployment. While initial estimates of job growth are based on surveys of representative samples, the benchmark revisions are based on actual data collected from employers in the Commonwealth through September 2012. Revised jobs numbers for the last quarter of 2012 are still based on projections.