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October 19, 2006
BOSTON - The state’s unemployment rate rose from 4.9 percent to 5.1 percent in September as the size of the labor force grew sharply.
The jobless rate grew even as the state gained 3,400 jobs last month, based on a monthly survey of employers, the state Department of Workforce Development said Thursday.
A separate survey of households indicated an increase of two-tenths of a percentage point in the unemployment rate from August to September, with the number of employed residents totaling nearly 3.216 million compared with 171,500 jobless residents. The unemployment rate has averaged 4.9 percent through the first nine months of the year.
The state’s rate remains above the national jobless figure, which dropped from 4.7 percent in August to 4.6 percent in September.
The household survey found a sharp September jump of 16,500 in the size of the labor force - the sum of the state’s employed and unemployed workers - to 3.387 million. Because the gains in employed and unemployed workers were roughly equal in September - about 8,500 more with jobs to 8,000 more without - the unemployment rate rose.
The employer survey’s finding of a 3,400-job increase in September left the state with 33,100 more jobs than a year ago.
An economic sector that includes professional, scientific and business services posted the state’s strongest growth in September, adding 2,100 jobs from August. The biggest drop came in manufacturing, which lost 1,500 jobs.
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