Mass. Unemployment Rate Drops To 6.8 Percent; State Loses 6,200 Jobs

By The WBUR Newsroom
Jan 19, 2012, 9:28 AM
1 Comments

Updated at 6:00 PM, January 20th, 2012

BOSTON — Massachusetts’ jobless rate dropped to 6.8 percent in December, down from 7 percent in November, according to figures released by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development Thursday.

That’s the state’s lowest unemployment level since December 2008.

But at the same time, labor officials also say the state lost 6,200 jobs last month. The unemployment rate and jobs figures come from separate surveys.

“My guess is [the jobs figures] will go up when it’s revised on a monthly basis,” said Gov. Deval Patrick. “Right now, I’m focused on the rate, and that’s really good news, and I’m also focused on the fact that we have more to do.”

The scientific and business services sector lost the most jobs in December, while trade, transportation and utilities posted the biggest gains.

State Labor Secretary Joanne Goldstein says she expects the job market will continue to improve.

“By conversations with employers, individual claimants and just a sense of where the unemployment market is at, you certainly do feel like we’re headed in the right direction,” Goldstein said.

For the year, the state gained more than 40,000 jobs.

The national unemployment rate is 8.5 percent.

With your mouse, hover over the charts for specific monthly data.

Mass. Jobs Added/Lost In 2011, By Month

Mass. Unemployment Rate In 2011, By Month

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I’d love to know if this includes people who lost their benefits because they exceeded the 99 weeks, people who are drastically underemployed (i.e., working part-time vs. full-time, working for drastically reduced salaries/hourly wages, etc.), and people who simply stopped looking because they reached retirement age/have decided to be a stay-at-home parent, etc.