BOSTON - July 16, 2009 --- The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported today that the unemployment rate in Massachusetts rose to 8.6% with 2,300 jobs lost in June. Despite the recorded loss for June, Massachusetts showed a net job gain of 3,300 over the past two months. May's originally reported job gain of 4,900 has now been revised up to 5,600. Education and Health Services and Leisure and Hospitality recorded sizeable monthly gains. Largest monthly declines occurred in Government, Construction, and Manufacturing. The national unemployment rate for the month of June was 9.5 percent.

At 3,187,400, jobs are down 106,400 or 3.2 percent from one year ago. Education and Health Services remains the only sector to record higher job numbers than one year ago. Professional, Scientific, and Business Services recorded the largest over the year job loss, while Construction showed the highest rate of decline.

Employment Overview
Education and Health Services gained 4,700 jobs in June, reaching another new high at 652,800. Educational Services accounted for most of the over the month gains with small increases reported in Health Care and Social Assistance. Education and Health Services was the only sector to add jobs over the year, with Health Care and Social Assistance gaining 7,700 jobs and Educational Services contributing an additional 5,800 jobs.

Professional, Scientific, and Business Services jobs were off 1,300 in June but still show an increase of 1,000 over the most recent two month period. The Administrative and Waste Management Services component, which includes Temporary Help Agencies, gained 500 jobs in June, following up on a 1,200 increase in May; a trend reversal from the 18,400 job decline reported over the previous six months. At 456,800, employment in the overall sector is down 31,200 or 6.4 percent from one year ago, with the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services component showing losses of 8,500 or 3.3 percent.

Financial Activities posted a 1,100 over the month job decline but employment is still only down 1,600 since January. At 208,600, the Financial Activities sector is down 12,800 jobs or 5.8 percent from one year ago. Losses were divided fairly evenly between Finance and Insurance and the much smaller Real Estate, Rental and Leasing.

Trade, Transportation and Utilities lost 1,100 jobs in June. Losses were concentrated in Wholesale Trade and Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities. Retail trade posted small increases for the second consecutive month. Employment in the overall sector is down 24,500 or 4.3 percent from one year ago to 546,200. Over the year job losses were reflected mostly in Wholesale and Retail Trade.

Leisure and Hospitality added 3,100 jobs in June, following a 4,100 job gain the previous month. An upturn in Accommodation and Food Services employment has accounted for most of the recent growth. At 304,000, Leisure and Hospitality jobs are now off only 2,300 over the year, with Accommodation and Food Services nearly back to year ago levels.

Information jobs were off 300 this month, with employment down only 900 since January. At 84,800, Information employment is down 5,100 or 5.7 percent from one year ago, with Newspaper, Periodical, and Book Publishing and Telecommunications showing the largest job loss.

Manufacturing jobs fell by 1,900 in June, nearly all in the Durable Goods component. At 271,100 Manufacturing employment is down 16,200 or 5.6 percent from one year ago. Transportation Equipment showed a small over the year increase while Fabricated Metals posted the largest decline.

Construction continued to fall with a loss of 2,200 jobs in June. At 111,600, jobs are off 21,300 or 16.0 percent from one year ago, well over twice the rate of decline of any other sector.

Government jobs were down 2,300 over the month with losses in all three components. Over the year, Government jobs are off 3,800.

Labor Force Overview
The Bay State's labor force decreased by 9,700 over the month with 23,300 fewer Massachusetts residents employed and 13,600 more unemployed. At 3,420,200, the labor force is down 3,900 from June 2008 as 125,700 fewer residents were employed and 121,800 more were unemployed.

The unemployment rate is based upon a monthly sample of households, while the job estimates are derived from a monthly sample survey of employers. As a result, the two statistics may exhibit different trends from month to month.

NOTES: Local area unemployment statistics for June 2009 will be released on Tuesday, July 21, 2009. The July 2009 unemployment rate and labor force data for Massachusetts will be released on Thursday, August 20, 2009, as will the July 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 3/05/09.