Boston Jobs Are on the Rise

Posted on September 25, 2008

Jobs in Boston and the surrounding area saw a 1 percent increase during August.

According to an article by the Daily News Transcript, employment most likely increased because healthcare and educational facilities continued to hire workers despite the declining economy.

The Office of Labor and Workforce Development released a report stating the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area saw one of the highest annual job growth rate of all the state’s labor market areas, second only to Farmingham. The area saw an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent, lower than the July unemployment rate of 4.8 percent and lower than the national unemployment rate of 6.1 percent.

“All those encouraging numbers are indicative of overall strength of the economy in the area,” the article notes. “The area continues to gain jobs over the year in contrast to the national economy, which has been shedding jobs.”

However, the report also shows economic problems are affecting some industries and workers, as the area saw a significant decrease in the financial, insurance and real estate industries.

While the financial activities industry lost 1,500 jobs lost during the last six months, the educational and health services industry, which includes health care and social assistances, hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities, added 7,400 new jobs, a 1.2 percent increase during the last six months.

Healthcare employment grew in August with ambulatory health care services and hospitals adding the most jobs. Over the year, the healthcare industry has added 7,500 jobs, while Jobs in hospitals grew from 106,800 to 109,500, a 2.5 percent increase from last year.