A new report from the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development indicates that Massachusetts’ statewide unemployment rate held steady for the month of June at an even 6 percent.
But the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ preliminary June 2012 estimates show that the state lost a net 2,600 jobs between the ends of May and June, after gaining a revised figure of 5,000 jobs in May.
The total number of jobs in the state as of June 30 — pegged at 3,244,500 — reflected gains within six of the 10 private sectors, with the largest increased in professional, scientific, and business services, according to the report.
Over the year to date, the statistics show, Massachusetts has added a net 32,700 jobs, with the private sector adding 34,900 jobs, showing a public-sector loss of 2,200.
The new statistics do not yet include a new monthly breakdown of June employment statistics for individual communities.
Gloucester’s unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent in the month of May, the city’s lowest jobless figure for the city since the summer of 2008, and a figure that marked a 19-percent improvement over the figure for the same month a year ago, May 2011.
Yet the state statistics show that the city’s workforce also continued to decline in May — a month that included additional seasonal employment through Memorial Day Weekend, and at a time when the city’s workforce would usually grow. The figures for May pegged Gloucester’s workforce at 15,458, down from 15,536 in April and down by 5.9 percent over the last two years, from July 2010.
Analysts across the state and the nation have continued to raise concerns that the declining trend of overall workforce illustrates a statistical gap that does not account for people who are still jobless, but who have fallen off the unemployment rolls and are no longer tracked by government studies.
Essex’ May jobless rate checked in at 5 percent, with Manchester’s at 4.6 percent and Rockport’s at a Cape Ann-low of 4.4 – all below the state’s average.
Within workplace categories, the new statewide June figures show that professional, scientific, and business services added 1,900 jobs over the previous month, the sector’s 12th consecutive monthly gain.
The statewide manufacturing sector also added 300 jobs over the month as the gain in non-durable goods outweighed the loss in durable goods. Over the year, Massachusetts’ manufacturing sector has added 1,200 jobs — a time when Gloucester’s Varian Semiconductor Division, Gloucester Engineering and Bomco Industries, with a newly expanded facility on Gloucester Avenue, have increased hiring.
The construction industry, however, lost 2,100 jobs over the month, according to the state’s June report, and has shed 7,200 jobs over the year to date, while the state’s leisure and hospitality category lost 2,100 jobs in June, reversing earlier gains and leaving a year’s net loss of 1,100 positions.
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