BOSTON (WWLP) – The latest unemployment numbers for March were released Friday.
Massachusetts gained an estimated 16,300 jobs in March, bringing the unemployment rate down to 3.5%. March saw a bigger increase in jobs than February’s revised gain of 9,200 jobs.
Employment now stands at over 3.5 million and the state has gained over 696,000 jobs since the employment low in April 2020, a month into the pandemic. In March, the largest over-the-year gains were in Education and Health Services, Profession, Scientific and Business Services and Leisure and Hospitality.
Over the year, every sector saw an increase in jobs, same over the month except for Trade, Transportation, and Utilities which had no change.
In total, from March 2022 to March of 2023, the state saw a gain of 104,000 jobs. The labor force increased by an estimated 300, as 4,700 more residents were employed and 4,400 fewer residents were unemployed.
Now as for the state’s labor force participation rate, that remained unchanged over the month at 65%. This is the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were seeking employment in the last four weeks.
March’s unemployment rate of 3.5% is the same as the national rate.
