Massachusetts jobless rate remains higher than a year ago, and gains in recent years are small
April 3, 2026…..Massachusetts “is experiencing a period of strong job growth that began in October,” a chief state economist said Friday as labor officials reported an increase of 3,700 jobs in January.
January jobs numbers released by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development show the state unemployment rate at 4.7%, a notch below the 4.8% rate originally reported for December but equal to what state officials said was the federally-revised rate for the last month of 2025. The national unemployment rate stood at 4.3% in January.
[Courtesy: MA Office of Economic Research]
The sectors that saw the greatest gains here in January were private education and health services (3,100 jobs gained), leisure and hospitality (plus 2,000 jobs) and manufacturing (added 1,100 jobs), officials said. Those gains offset losses in professional and business services (loss of 2,900 jobs), financial activities (loss of 500 jobs), and trade, transportation and utilities (loss of 100 jobs).
Fourth consecutive of Massachusetts job growth
January was the fourth consecutive month of job gains, the Healey administration said. From the start of October through January, Massachusetts saw an increase of 14,700 payroll jobs. Department of Economic Research Chief Economist Mark Rembert said those results suggest the state has had a run of hearty job growth, despite headwinds from federal policy and state decisions.
“While the unemployment rate remained steady in January, we have been monitoring economic signals and trends, particularly at the national level, that continue to present challenges, and potential opportunities, in the labor market for job seekers and employers,” Rembert said.
Gov. Maura Healey called Friday’s announcement “positive news after a year in which President Trump’s policies caused real damage to our state’s economy, especially his cuts to federal funding for research, science and universities and federal employee layoffs.”
As reelection looms this falls, the Democratic incumbent has recently taken to regularly highlighting business expansions and relocations in Massachusetts. On Friday she again mentioned “a wave of businesses choosing to move and grow here” like job additions at JPMorganChase and WHOOP.
The three Republicans vying to run against Healey this fall have regularly highlighted the scarce job growth Massachusetts has seen under her administration and routinely point out the Bay State’s place at or near the bottom of some economic growth metrics.
While the last four months of reported data show the state having added 14,700 jobs during that time, the Healey administration did not highlight the fact that the estimate of 3,709,400 payroll jobs in the state as of January is 13,600 jobs lower than one year ago, or that the unemployment rate has climbed over the last year from 4.2% to 4.7%.
Massachusetts counted about 3,746,000 payroll jobs as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in February 2020, having climbed steadily from 3,538,000 jobs as of January 2016. That number plummeted to 3,057,000 jobs in April 2020 and then rebounded, standing at 3,708,000 payroll jobs as of January 2023, the month Healey took office.
Since then, the number of payroll jobs in Massachusetts has increased by about 1,400 positions or almost 0.03%, according to state records.
The count of payroll jobs does not include people who are self-employed, gig workers or contractors. The number of employed residents as of January was 3.74 million, 11,200 less than in December and 42,200 less than were employed as of January 2025, according to state data. There were 186,200 residents not employed but seeking and available for work as of January.
As labor market data gets back on its usual reporting cadence following the last federal government shutdown, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said it expects to release unemployment and job estimates for February on April 17; for March on May 1; and for April on May 22.
