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According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Massachusetts' job situation continued to worsen during the month of June.

The state's unemployment rate rose 0.4 percent from May's 8.2 percent to 8.6 percent, which is the highest it has been in almost 17 years. Although this is still below the national rate of 9.5 percent, it is significantly higher than the Massachusetts' jobless rate during the same time last year. In June of 2008 only 5.1 percent of the state's population was unemployed.

According to the state Office of Labor and Workforce Development, employers in Massachusetts did away with approximately 2,300 jobs during June. This is particularly interesting considering that the state saw the creation of almost 5,000 jobs last month.

Since June of last year around 106,400 jobs in Massachusetts have been lost. This means that the current number of jobs is 3.2 percent lower than it was in 2008.

During the month the largest job losses occurred in the government sector. Federal, state and city governments did away with 2,300 jobs. The construction industry, which has been experiencing problems throughout the country, followed. Employers in this industry cut 2,200 positions. The manufacturing sector saw a loss of another 1,900 jobs.

There also were job declines in the professional and business services sector and the financial industry. The first lost 1,300 positions, while employers in the latter cut 1,100 jobs.

The damage done by these job losses would have been much worse if two sectors hadn't experienced significant job gains during the month. Jobs in the education and healthcare sector rose, with 4,700 positions being created in June. Leisure and hospitality followed, creating 3,100 jobs.

Over the course of the last year the construction industry has experienced the largest rate of decline in the state. Currently payrolls in this sector are 16 percent smaller than they were in June of 2008. Mining and logging came in second, losing 13.3 percent of the number of jobs it provided during the previous year.

Only one industry reported experiencing year-over-year job gains; educational and healthcare services. Since June of 2008 employers in this sector have increased their payrolls by 2.1 percent. This comes as little surprise since many experts have said that this industry is relatively safe from the economic issues plaguing other areas of employment across the nation.

Labels: Jobs