Mass. Unemployment Rate Up As State Adds Jobs

Preliminary estimates show Massachusetts gained 3,500 jobs in May, but revised figures show a steeper loss of jobs in the previous month than originally thought.

Meanwhile, the state office of Labor and Workforce Development says the Massachusetts unemployment rate ticked up two-tenths of a point in May to 6.6 percent.

Different methods are used to calculate the unemployment rate and monthly job growth.

With the estimated gain of 3,500 jobs in May, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics says Massachusetts has added 14,500 since the beginning of the year.

But the bureau says the state lost 3,300 jobs in April, a downward revision from the earlier estimate of 1,400 jobs lost.

The May jobless rate is just below the 6.7 percent rate recorded in the same month a year ago.