Boston Unemployment Increases

Posted on September 1, 2009

The Boston unemployment rate increased during July as the city and surrounding area began to lose jobs.

While the majority of the country has been losing jobs since the beginning of the economic recession, Boston was previously one of the few cities that continued adding workers and maintaining a semi-stable unemployment rate. However, the latest data from the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics found that trend changed two months ago.

During July, the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area saw its unemployment rate increase from 8.3 percent to 8.4 percent, which is lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.4 percent. This follows an unemployment increase from 7.2 percent to 7.5 percent during May.

The area had a total non-farm employment of 2,429,900 workers during July, according to the BLS. This is down from 2,456,100 workers during June and a 2.6 percent decrease from last year.

Two industries managed to add jobs when compared to last year. The education and health services industry employed 477,200 workers during July, down from 477,300 workers during June, but a 2.3 percent decrease from last year. The leisure and hospitality industry employed 238,400 workers during July, up from 234,100 workers during June and a 2.5 percent increase from last year.

Although the construction industry added jobs on a month-to-month basis, it took the biggest hit when compared to last year. That industry employed 86,600 workers during July, up from 85,400 workers during June, but a 15.6 percent decrease from last year.

Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in jobs include: