State unemployment rate falls to 7.8% in April
The state unemployment rate in April fell to 7.8 percent, down from 8 percent in March, which was then the lowest point in nearly two years, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said this morning.
The executive office's preliminary job estimates indicate that the state's economy added 19,500 jobs last month. The private sector added 20,500 jobs while government lost 1,000 jobs, the office said in
The national unemployment rate is currently 9 percent.
Economic sectors adding jobs in the Bay State last month included leisure and hospitality, education and health services, and manufacturing, the executive office said in a press release.
Earlier this morning, the New England Economic Partnership issued a local forecast for the Bay State economy.
According to this nonprofit group of economists, the Massachusetts economy will continue to slowly add jobs until 2013, when expansion is expected to reach "full stride" and the number of jobs in the state reaches its pre-recession peak.
The state's employers added 34,000 jobs in the year ending in March, and the job creation is expected to continue at about the same pace for the next five years, largely due to the strength of the state's technology and health science sectors, according to the group's projections.
To see a Boston.com post on that report, please click here.
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