Despite adding jobs to the local economy, Massachusetts’ unemployment rate climbed to 7 percent in June, its highest level since November 2011. According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, Massachusetts’ unemployment rate rose to 7 percent from 6.6 percent in May. The state added 2,800 jobs in June, as well as 6,700 jobs in May.
Nationally, the unemployment rate is 7.6 percent.
Massachusetts’ unemployment rate rose slightly in May, from 6.4 percent in April to 6.6 percent, according to the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Massachusetts employers increased hiring for the first time in four months, adding 3,500 jobs, but that wasn’t enough for the 9,000 workers reported looking for work.
Nationally, the unemployment rate is 7.6 percent.
PSG President Aaron Green talked to CareerBuilder.com about how temporary jobs can influence your career over the long-term.
See his comments and read more about the benefits of temping to find permanent employment, as well as tips for working with temporary agencies in this blog post.
According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development’s most recent jobs numbers, the State’s unemployment rate remains at 6.4 percent. The unemployment rate remains steady, even though Massachusetts employers cut 1,400 jobs last month. April is the third consecutive month that the number of jobs in the state has declined.
Massachusetts’ unemployment rate remains lower than the national average unemployment rate, which is 7.5 percent.
The Massachusetts unemployment rate dropped to 6.4 percent in March, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. However, officials say the drop was largely due to the more than 6,000 people who stopped looking for work. Only those who actively seek jobs are counted as unemployed by labor officials. Additionally, Massachusetts employers cut 5,500 jobs in March. In the previous month, employers cut 800 jobs, according to revised numbers.
Across the country, unemployment rates fell in more than half the U.S. states in March, even though job growth slowed. Twenty-six states reported lower unemployment rates, 7 states reported higher rates and rates stayed the same in 17 states. Rates fell largely because many of those out of work stopped looking for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed.
The latest unemployment numbers from Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development offer an optimistic take on our state’s job economy: the unemployment rate has dropped for the first time in five months and the overall number of jobs in the Commonwealth shows that we’ve finally surpassed pre-recession employment levels.
The Massachusetts unemployment rate dropped to 6.5 percent in February, down from 6.7 percent in January, the rate it has been for the past four months. Massachusetts added 500 jobs in February and the number of jobs created in January was revised up to 18,900. Nationally the unemployment rate is 7.7 percent.
PSG President Aaron Green spoke to the Boston Globe for its annual “Where the Jobs Are” special magazine feature. Aaron was one of several local jobs experts offering advice on where to look and how to land a new job. Read the article here.
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.
According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the Massachusetts unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.7 percent for the month of December. The jobless rate has slowly risen since May of 2012 when it was at 6 percent. The state’s current unemployment rate is down compared with the rate one year ago when it was 6.9 percent in December 2011. It also remains lower than the highest rate of the Recession, which was 8.7 percent, in October 2009. The national unemployment rate was 7.8 percent in December.
While hiring for full-time jobs is relatively slow right now, which many say is due to uncertainty in Washington, economists predict the pace of hiring among Boston employers will pick up steam later in 2013. In particular, certain industries will see more demand than others, including construction, professional technology services, IT, and hospitality industries.
In contrast, the temporary staffing market is experiencing record growth. An annual survey and forecast from Staffing Industry Analysts predicts that the use of temporary staffing will hit record numbers in 2013. This year, temporary hires across all industries are expected to reach 106 percent of their historical high and some sectors, such as locum tenens physicians and nurses and IT and engineering/design professionals, will far exceed the average.
Professional Staffing Group 