Mass. jobless rate falls to 8.1 percent

Hits lowest point since April 2009


By Robert Gavin
Globe Staff / November 19, 2010


The Massachusetts unemployment rate last month fell to its lowest level in more than a year, as hiring rebounded broadly following steep job losses in September, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported yesterday




Massachusetts employers added 10,000 jobs in October, among the strongest monthly gains since the state's labor market began to recover early this year




The state's jobless rate fell to 81 percent from 84 percent in September, and has plunged nearly a percentage point since mid-summer




The national unemployment rate was 96 percent in October




"Massachusetts is clearly outperforming the nation and has a very decent recovery underway,'' said Nick Perna, economic adviser to Webster Bank of Connecticut, which has Massachusetts operations "This set of numbers is an early Thanksgiving''




The Massachusetts economy, which relies more on technology and business spending, and less on housing and consumer spending, has recovered from the recent recession faster than the nation as a whole, creating jobs over the past year at about twice the national rate Since January, the state has added nearly 50,000 jobs, but still has far to go to recover all the jobs lost in the last recession




Employment levels remain about 120,000 jobs below the pre recession peak in March 2008 The New England Economic Partnership, a nonprofit forecasting group, projects the state will regain all the lost jobs by early 2013




Many economists, meanwhile, expect growth to slow over the next several months as the state feels the effects of struggling national and foreign economies, which provide markets for many Massachusetts firms




The New England Economic Partnership this week forecast the state's economy will decelerate noticeably, resulting in anemic job growth through the first part of 2011, before picking up later in the year as the national recovery gains momentum




Still, Governor Deval Patrick called October's job gains and decline in unemployment "promising economic news''




"Job creation has been priority number one since day one,'' Patrick said in a statement "Putting people to work will remain at the top of my agenda because, despite these positive developments, we have more to do''




Economists agreed the report was largely positive The decline in unemployment — which fell to its lowest point since April 2009 — appeared to be driven by workers finding jobs, as opposed to giving up searches and leaving the labor force Only workers who actively seek work are counted as unemployed




The labor force has grown in each of the past two months, while more people are employed and fewer are unemployed, according to the report




"We still have a long way to go,'' said Elliot Winer, chief economist at Northeast Economic Analysis Group, a Sudbury consulting firm, "but we're moving in the right direction''




Joseph Donahue, president of Micro Tech Staffing Group of Quincy, said his business is heading in the right direction, too The firm has 500 more temporary employees working at Massachusetts firms than it did six months ago, and permanent hiring is picking up, he said Economists view temporary employment as a leading indicator of the job market, since employers often take on temp workers before adding permanent jobs




"We definitely got the surge in Massachusetts,'' said Donahue, whose company has about 1,800 workers placed in companies in New England "Permanent hiring is not growing fast enough, but it's growing''




October's gains were led by education and health services, which added 5,100 jobs after shedding more than 7,000 in September Leisure and hospitality, which lost nearly 12,000 jobs in September, regained 2,800




Manufacturing added 1,200 jobs last month; financial services gained 600 Information, a technology sector that includes software publishers, added 400 Government gained 1,500 jobs




Three major sectors shed jobs in October: construction lost 1,500; professional and business services, 900; and trade, transportation, and utilities, 500




Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globecom





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