Revisions Put Mass. Behind Pre-Pandemic Employment

Massachusetts still remains a bit below pre-pandemic levels of employment following a Friday announcement that revised previously announced data.

Bay State employers added a fairly modest 3,000 jobs in February, and labor officials now estimate that businesses added 8,900 jobs in January, not 19,600 as they originally estimated.

Accounting for those updates, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said Friday that total statewide employment stands at 3,735,800, nearly 8,000 positions shy of the level reported in February 2020 before the COVID-19 crisis prompted enormous cuts across the economy.

The biggest month-over-month gains occurred in the professional, scientific and business services sector, which added 2,600 jobs, and the education and health services sector, which added 2,500 jobs. Leisure and hospitality employers shed 2,100 jobs over the month, “other services” cut 600 positions, and government dropped 300 workers.

The statewide unemployment rate ticked up a bit in February, rising from a revised 3.5 percent in January to 3.7 percent. That stands one-tenth of a point above the 3.6 percent national unemployment rate in February.