💼 BLS · JOLTS · CES Data

Massachusetts Employment & Labor Market

Job growth, unemployment trends, and JOLTS analysis

Unemployment Rate

4.8%

Dec 2025 — up from 3.5% in 2023

Jobs Added in 2025

+1,300

Worst year since 2020

Job Openings Rate

4.2%

Below national 4.5%

NFP Revision

-911K

National payroll overcount

Labor Market Overview

Massachusetts added just 1,300 jobs in all of 2025 — the weakest year since the pandemic

⚠️ Hiring Recession

Only 1,300 jobs added in 2025 — while 27,000 more people became unemployed

BLS CES & LAUS — employers in "low-hire, low-fire" mode

⚠️ Only State to Extend Benefits

MA extended unemployment benefits to 30 weeks — the only state to do so

MA is the only state that needed to extend standard 26-week unemployment benefits

Unemployment Rate Trajectory

MA vs. National, 2019–2025

Annual Job Growth

Net payroll jobs added/lost per year

🔴

The supply of workers outpaced demand from employers in 2025. The outlook for 2026 is for more of the same. Executives cite tariff concerns and AI uncertainty as reasons for the hiring falloff. — Boston Globe, Jan 2026

Unemployment Deep Dive

MA unemployment has risen 37% in two years — from 3.5% to 4.8%

MA Rate (Dec 2025)

4.8%

Pre-COVID (2019)

2.9%

2 Years Ago

3.5%

National Rate

4.4%

MA Above National

+0.4%

MA Rank

Below Avg

Unemployed Persons

~188,000

YoY Change

+27,000

Labor Force

3.95M

MA vs. National Unemployment

Monthly rates, seasonally adjusted

Labor Force Participation

MA labor force participation rate trend

Job Growth Analysis

Two years of stagnation: employers shed 4,500 jobs from 2024-2025 combined

⚠️ September 2025

-11,100 jobs — worst single month since COVID

BLS CES preliminary data

Monthly Job Changes (2025)

Net payroll employment change by month

NFP Revision Impact

National payroll overcount of 911,000 jobs

🔴

National payrolls were overstated by 911,000 jobs in the BLS benchmark revision — the largest downward revision since 2009. This means the labor market was significantly weaker than reported throughout 2024.

JOLTS Data — Job Openings

MA job openings rate has fallen below the national average

Job Openings Rate: MA vs. US

JOLTS monthly data

Openings vs. Unemployed

The ratio that defines labor market tightness

MA Job Openings (Oct 2025)

163,000

Openings Rate

4.2%

vs National

Below (4.5%)

Openings per Unemployed

0.87

2022 Peak

2.0

Healthy Level

1.0–1.2

Quits Rate

Declining

Signal

Workers afraid to leave

Employment by Sector (2025)

Construction was the only real bright spot — core sectors stalled or shed jobs

2025 Job Changes by Sector

Net payroll employment change, full year 2025

The Healthcare Employment Mask

Healthcare hiring masks weakness in other sectors

Sector	2025 Job Change	Signal
Professional & Business Services	-2,700	Contracting
Leisure & Hospitality	-1,200	Contracting
Education & Health Services	+400	Stalled
Financial Services	+200	Flat
Trade, Transport & Utilities	+1,300	Modest growth
Construction	+1,800	Bright spot

🔴

Professional & Business Services lost 2,700 jobs — this is Massachusetts' core white-collar economy. Combined with anemic education/health growth (+400), the state's traditional strengths are no longer generating employment.