State’s jobless rate surges up

BOSTON – The number of unemployed workers in Massachusetts surged upward during January, according to a report released Thursday by the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.The jobless rate jumped from 6.4 percent in December to 7.4 percent in January and has showed no signs of slowing down.Pink slips went out in February to more than 100 Lynn schoolteachers but all are being sent letters rescinding those layoffs. In the interim, the schoolteachers chose to work a day without pay to make up funding in order to prevent those colleagues from losing their positions.Similar scenarios were played out across the state last month with news of layoffs surfacing in most industries.Labor spokeswoman Alison Harris said job losses for January totaled $4,900 in the state “as the national recession continues to negatively impact the Massachusetts economy.”The situation remained equally dire at the national level, where unemployment increased from 7.2 percent in December to 7.6 percent in January. By comparison, in January 2008 the Massachusetts jobless rate was 4.6 percent and the U.S. rate 4.9 percent.Four sectors in Massachusetts actually added jobs during the same time period, with leisure and hospitality showing the largest increase. Professional, scientific and business services recorded the biggest job losses in January.Jobs are down 72,600 or 2.2 percent from one year ago, with 61,300 losses since last September.Education and health services added 1,600 jobs in January. Job losses were also evident in the real estate, rental and leasing markets, as were those in finance.Trade, transportation and utilities saw a bump with 2,000 jobs added in January, which ended a string of 11 consecutive months in decline. Retail trade added 3,300 jobs after losing 5,700 the previous month.Manufacturing, information and construction jobs were all in decline during January.As of January, 3,174,100 Massachusetts residents were employed, which was 38,800 fewer than in December. In other words, 252,400 Massachusetts residents were jobless in January.