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| For Release: December 21, 2006 | Contact: | Linnea Walsh O: 617-626-7111 Elliot Winer 617-626-6558 |
| MASSACHUSETTS ADDS 1,100 JOBS IN NOVEMBER; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 5.0 PERCENT |
| Massachusetts added 1,100 jobs in November. Total jobs are up 21,100 from one year ago and 56,200 jobs have been added since December 2003. The unemployment rate in Massachusetts increased to 5.0 percent in November from 4.6 percent in October. |
| Jobs increased by 1,100 in November to 3,223,300. The largest over the month job gains occurred in the professional, scientific, and business services and educational and health services super sectors. Job losses occurred in the trade, transportation and utilities, manufacturing, and leisure and hospitality super sectors. The preliminary estimate for October has been revised downward by 800. |
| The national unemployment rate edged up from 4.4 percent in October to 4.5 percent in November. The Massachusetts rate has averaged 4.9 percent this year to date. Massachusetts recorded a lower unemployment rate than the U.S. from January 2004 through January 2006 as well as in July 2006. |
| Professional, scientific, and business services added 1,500 jobs in November, with strong gains recorded in computer systems design services and management, scientific, and technical consulting services. Employment in this super sector has been trending upward over the past three years. Over the most recent twelve month period, employment is up 8,700 or 1.9 percent to 472,100, the highest annual growth rate of any super sector. Most of the over the year gains occurred in the professional, scientific, and technical segment, with very strong job growth recorded in architectural and engineering services (+4.5 percent), management, scientific, and technical consulting services (+4.3 percent), scientific research and development (+2.8 percent), and computer systems design services (2.8 percent). The overall super sector has added 33,600 jobs since bottoming out in June 2003. Employment is off 35,400 or 7.0 percent from its January 2001 peak of 507,500. |
| Education and health services employment increased by 1,300 in November with gains concentrated in the health care component. Jobs are up 9,600 from one year ago to 601,500, the largest numerical increase of any super sector. Over the year job gains were reflected entirely in health care and social assistance with hospitals and physician’s offices adding the most jobs. |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities lost 1,200 jobs in November, reversing much of the 1,600 job gain from the previous month. Seasonal hiring in such industries as clothing and accessories stores, general merchandise stores, and sporting goods, hobby, and book stores was less robust than usual. At 568,000, employment is still off 2,300 from one year ago. Within the retail trade segment, lackluster performance in general merchandise stores (-3,400 or -7.2 percent) more than offset the 1,700 net job increase in all other retail industries combined. |
| Employment in the information super sector at 87,900 was essentially unchanged (+100) and has remained flat through most of 2006. Since November 2005, information jobs are up 600, with strong gains in software publishing partially offset by declines in newspaper and periodical publishing and telecommunications. Information jobs are down 29,100 or 24.9 percent from its January 2001 peak of 117,000. |
| Financial activities jobs increased by 500 in November with most of the increase occurring in insurance. At 225,800, financial activities jobs are up 3,600 or 1.6 percent from one year ago, tied with educational and health services for the second fastest rate of growth among the super sectors. Insurance, real estate, and banking accounted for most of the over the year gains, with security and commodity services showing only marginal gains. |
| Leisure and hospitality lost 700 jobs in November, following a 3,100 loss in October, the result of seasonal related declines across this super sector. However, at 290,900, leisure and hospitality jobs are up 400 over the year. |
| Construction employment was unchanged in November at 141,300. Employment trends since the beginning of the year show 800 fewer jobs from one year ago. |
| Manufacturing employment was off 800 in November, with fabricated metals and semiconductors each down 200. At 304,400, manufacturing employment is up from one year ago, despite jobs being off by 3,000 since July of this year. The largest over the year job gains were posted in computer and electronic products. All other durable goods industries recorded small over the year gains except fabricated metals which was unchanged. Among non durable goods industries, sizeable job losses were recorded in textiles and paper manufacturing. Manufacturing employment is down 106,000 jobs, or 25.8 percent, since reaching 410,400 in July 2000. |
| The labor force (the sum of the employed and the unemployed) increased by 11,000 in November to 3,398,400. However, the additional entrants into the labor force were not immediately able to find employment in November, as the number of unemployed residents increased by 12,500 while the number of employed were off 1,500. Since November 2005, the labor force has expanded by 32,400, with the number of employed increasing by 24,000 to 3,229,100 and the number of unemployed residents is up 8,200 to 169,200. |
| The job numbers are the result of a monthly survey that uses U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics methodology. More than 9,000 Massachusetts employers are surveyed to determine the number of jobs by industry. These estimates are the economic indicator used to gauge employment growth patterns in Massachusetts. |
| Estimates for the labor force are developed using the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics model. The estimates are based on information on Massachusetts residents’ employment and unemployment status collected through a small monthly sample survey of households. |
| NOTES: The local area unemployment statistics for November 2006 will be released on Wednesday, December 27, 2006. The December 2006 unemployment rate and labor force data for Massachusetts will be released on Thursday, January 18, 2007, as will the December 2006 survey of jobs. (See the January 2006 Media Advisory annual schedule for complete listing of release dates). Detailed labor market information is available at the DWD website: www.mass.gov/dwd. |
| Historical labor force and unemployment estimates for Massachusetts from 2000 through 2005 were revised as of 3/2/06 to reflect annual year-end revisions, methodological changes, and updated seasonal adjustment factors. |
| Historical jobs estimates for Massachusetts from 2001 through 2005 were revised as of 3/2/06 to reflect annual year-end revisions and updated seasonal adjustment factors. |
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