BOSTON – The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development today reported that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates for May were up in seventeen areas, down in four areas and unchanged in one area. Over the year, the rates were up in sixteen areas; down in three areas; and unchanged in three areas.
Statewide, the May seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 6.8 percent, up 0.5 of a percentage point over the month. Over the year, the statewide unadjusted rate was up 0.3 of a percentage point from the May 2012 rate of 6.5 percent.
In May, over the month job gains occurred in all twelve areas for which estimates are published. The largest job gains were in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Barnstable, Framingham, and Springfield areas.
Over the year, ten of the twelve areas added jobs with the largest percentage gains in the Barnstable, Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, and Boston-Cambridge-Quincy areas.
The seasonally adjusted statewide May unemployment rate, released on June 20th, was 6.6 percent, up 0.2 of a percentage point from the 6.4 recorded for April and down 0.1 of a percentage point from the 6.7 percent rate posted for May 2012. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 3,500 job gain in May following a loss of 3,300 jobs in April.
The labor force, unemployment rates and jobs estimates for Massachusetts, and for all states, are based on several different statistical methodologies specified by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates.
