Massachusetts added 9,100 jobs in October, and its unemployment rate increased half a percentage point to 7.2 percent from the October 2012 rate of 6.7 percent, according to numbers released today by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD).
The private sector added 9,300 jobs last month across industries such as leisure and hospitality, transportation, utilities, education, health services, construction and financial services. Since December 2012, Massachusetts has gained 39,800 jobs. Over the year, the Commonwealth added 52,100 jobs, all of them in the private sector.
According to the agency, manufacturing was the only industry to lose jobs over both the month of October and the year, for losses of 1,400 and 4,300 respectively.
Revised Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates show 9,400 jobs were added in September, of which 7,800 were in the private sector. The September unemployment rate was 7.1 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point over the month. Revised August estimates show a gain of 6,000 jobs over the month with the private sector adding 5,100 of the jobs. The revised August unemployment rate was unchanged from the prior month at 7.2 percent.
Those numbers had to be revised due to a lapse in funding resulting from October’s government shutdown.





