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July 18, 2008
The Massachusetts economy is displaying symptoms of a split personality when it comes to jobs.
The state reported that employers added 2,900 jobs to payrolls in June, despite fears the economy was slowing down due to the subprime- mortgage crisis that's hit the United States.
But also in the state report released yesterday, there was a potentially ominous development: The jobless rate, as measured by a separate household survey, increased to 5.2 percent last month from 4.9 percent in May.
The jobless rate has now increased by more than a full percentage point during the past two months, though it remains below the national average of 5.5 percent.
Last month's creation of new jobs, though relatively small in numbers, marked the eighth time in nine months that Massachusetts employers generated additional payroll positions statewide.
The June numbers also tended to confirm economists' predictions that the state would weather the nation's current economic storm better than other parts of the country.
The jobless rate and payroll data can often seemingly contradict each other - as they did last month - due to the number of people entering and leaving the labor force. People are only counted as being in the labor force if they are actively seeking work.
Gov. Deval Patrick's administration, known to be sensitive about negative news, had previously touted the state's low jobless rate. But in recent press releases about jobs numbers, the administration has tried to downplay that data as the jobless rate has risen.
GRAPHIC: LINING UP FOR WORK: The state's unemployment rate has risen by more than a full percentage point over the past few months, but it's still lower than the national jobless rate.
National rate: 5.5%
Mass. rate: 5.2%
SOURCE: Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development
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