BOSTON - March 5, 2009 --- The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported today that the Massachusetts unemployment rate increased from 6.4 percent in December 2008 to 7.4 percent in January 2009. The December 2008 unemployment rate, originally reported at 6.9 percent, was revised downward by 0.5 percentage point. In addition, job losses for the month of January totaled 4,900 as the national recession continues to negatively impact the Massachusetts economy.

The national unemployment rate increased from 7.2 percent in December to 7.6 percent in January. One year ago in January 2008 Massachusetts recorded a 4.6 percent rate while the U.S. rate stood at 4.9 percent.

The state's final annual average unemployment rate for 2008 was 5.3 percent, up from the 4.5 percent rate for 2007. The U.S annual average rose from 4.6 percent in 2007 to 5.8 percent in 2008.

Massachusetts recorded a 4,900 job loss in January. Four sectors added jobs with Leisure and Hospitality showing the largest increase. Professional, Scientific, and Business Services recorded the largest over the month decline. A revision to the preliminary December 2008 jobs estimate resulted in a December job loss of 26,100 compared to the preliminary reported job loss of 16,800. At 3,225,300, jobs are down 72,600 or 2.2 percent from one year ago, with 61,300 losses since September 2008.

Annual year-end revisions and the updating of seasonal adjustment factors have resulted in changes to the state historical series for the years 2004-2008.

Employment Overview
Education and Health Services, Massachusetts' largest sector, added 1,600 jobs in January. With job losses mounting across the industry spectrum, education and health services still managed to trend upward during the last half of 2008. Health Care and Social Assistance accounted for all the job growth in January. At 644,900, Education and Health services jobs are up 11,800 or 1.9 percent from one year ago, the only private sector to add jobs over the year. Health Care and Social Assistance jobs increased by 10,300 while Educational Services added 1,500 jobs over the year. Government dropped 800 jobs (-0.2%) with 700 of the job loss in state government.

Jobs in Professional, Scientific, and Business Services declined by 3,600 in January, mostly the result of job losses in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services component. The reversal in this component has been sudden as after 26 months of consecutive job growth, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services have shed 8,300 jobs over the last three months. At 468,100, employment in the overall sector is down 21,600 or 4.4 percent from one year ago, with 16,100 of the job decline occurring in the Administrative and Waste Management Services component, which includes employment service agencies.

Financial Activities employment was off 1,200 over the month, with losses occurring mostly in Real Estate, Rental and Leasing. At 210,200, the Financial Activities sector is down 12,000 jobs or 5.4 percent from one year ago, with losses split between Real Estate, Rental and Leasing (-14.5 percent) and Finance and Insurance (-3.2 percent). Employment in the sector has declined for ten consecutive months with jobs at their lowest level since 1997.

Trade, Transportation and utilities added 2,000 jobs in January, ending a string of eleven consecutive monthly declines (or the first monthly gain since January 2008). Retail Trade added 3,300 jobs after declining 5,700 the prior month. The rapid swings appear to be attributed to less than normal seasonal hiring followed by less than normal seasonal layoffs. At 557,000, employment in the overall sector is down 16,600 from one year ago, with nearly all the job loss attributed to declines in Retail and Wholesale Trade.

Leisure and Hospitality jobs were up 2,300 in January with most of the increase in the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation component as typical seasonal employment declines in January were smaller than usual. At 301,300, jobs are off 5,400 over the year, with most of the losses in Accommodation and Food Services.

Information jobs were down 1,300 in January. At 85,500, employment in Information is off 3,100 over the past year. Newspaper, periodical, and book publishing show the largest over the year declines while employment in software publishing is essentially unchanged.

Manufacturing jobs were off 1,800 in January. At 279,300 Manufacturing employment is down 11,600 or 4.0 percent from one year ago with losses in Fabricated Metals and Computer and Electronic Products.

Construction jobs were down 2,200 over the month and have declined by 10,100 over the last three months. At 120,400, jobs are down 16,100 or 11.8 percent from one year ago, the largest over the year percentage loss of any sector.

The job numbers are the result of a monthly survey that uses U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics methodology. More than 8,000 Massachusetts employers are surveyed to determine the number of jobs by industry. These estimates are the economic indicator used to gauge the Commonwealth's employment growth patterns.

Labor Force Overview
In January, 3,174,100 Massachusetts residents were employed, 38,800 fewer than in December and 252,400 residents were unemployed, 32,700 more than the previous month, which resulted in a labor force of 3,426,500. The labor force is up 9,600 from January 2008, as 86,700 fewer residents were employed and 96,300 more were unemployed.

Labor force estimates for Massachusetts, developed using the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics model, are based on information on Massachusetts residents' employment and unemployment status collected through a small monthly sample survey of households.

NOTES: Local area unemployment statistics for January 2009 will be released on Tuesday, March 10, 2009. The February 2009 unemployment rate and labor force data for Massachusetts will be released on Thursday, March 19, 2009, as will the February 2009 survey of jobs. (See the January, 2009 Media Advisory annual schedule for complete listing of release dates.) Detailed labor market information is available at www.mass.gov/lmi. Historical jobs and labor force estimates for Massachusetts have been revised as of 3/5/09.