Worcester Business Journal Online: Mass. 2011 Job Growth Better Than Estimated
An article in the Worcester Business Journal Online profiled the findings of the latest MassBenchmarks release showing that 2011 job growth in Massachusetts was greater than originally estimated.
MassBenchmarks, the economic journal published by the UMass Donahue Institute and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, estimates that the number of jobs in the commonwealth was 3,241,800, 30,000 more than the official payroll job count done by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It also found that job growth between December 2010 and December 2011 was 39,100, or 1.2 percent, significantly more than the 9,100 jobs and 0.3 percent growth rate reported by the BLS.
The report said the sectors that had the fastest rate of job growth in 2011 were construction (4.6 percent) and professional and technical services (4 percent).
MassBenchmarks Senior Contributing Editor and Northeastern Professor Alan Clayton-Matthews is quoted as saying, "The rebound in construction employment is welcome given how hard hit this sector has been in recent years."
The data used in the MassBenchmarks estimates represents a census of Massachusetts employers who are participants in the state's unemployment system. This newly released data will be incorporated into the "official estimates" by the BLS in March after the bureau does its own annual revisions.
Read article: Mass. 2011 Job Growth Better Than Estimated
July 12, 2012
