BOSTON (AP) - The state’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 7.1% in February, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Friday.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts gained 14,100 jobs in February. That follows last month’s revised gain of 37,900 jobs.
During February, the private sector added thousands of jobs, led by the leisure and hospitality and professional, scientific, and business service sectors.
From February 2020 to February 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates Massachusetts lost 325,100 jobs, in large part due to the pandemic.
The largest percentage drop during those 12 months came in the leisure and hospitality sector with more than 30% of jobs lost.
The February unemployment rate in Massachusetts was 0.9 percentage points higher than the national rate of 6.2%.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.