Jobs in Boston

According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, finding jobs in Boston became slightly easier in April. During the month the city’s jobless rate dropped 0.2 percent from March’s 7.4 percent to 7.2 percent. In the same 30 day period the national unemployment rate was 8.9 percent, which means Boston is not suffering as badly from the economic recession as many other areas are.

Despite this small decline, Boston’s jobless rate remains significantly higher than it was a year ago. In April of 2008 only 3.8 percent of the city’s residents were without work. This means that there is more competition for available positions than there was a year ago.

Over the course of the last year there has been a 2.8 percent decline in Boston jobs, according to the Bureau. Currently there are 2,428,800 positions in the city, which has a civilian labor force of 2,487,900 workers.

During the last 12 months employers in the construction sector were responsible for the largest percentage of job decline. This industry has seen a 14.7 percent decrease in available jobs, mostly due to the housing market slump. Since fewer people can afford to buy new homes, there is less need for new construction projects. This, of course, severely limits the number of jobs the industry can support.

The mining and logging sector followed. In the last year the number of jobs in Boston in this industry fell by 12.5 percent.

With many companies cutting back in order to keep their profit margins up, the need for the services provided by the professional and business services sector have fallen. As a result the last 12 months saw a 6 percent decline in the number of jobs in this industry.

Another industry that has suffered significant job losses across the country over the last 12 months is the financial activities sector. With issues on the credit market and several banks having to be bailed out by the government, it’s no surprise that Boston’s job market saw the loss of positions in this sector. Since last April there has been a 5.6 percent decline in these jobs.

Other sectors that suffered over the last year in Boston include: manufacturing (a 4.1 percent decline), trade, transportation and utilities (also a 4.1 percent decrease), the catch –all category “other services” (a 3.5 percent loss) information (which lost 3.2 percent of its jobs) and leisure and hospitality (a loss of 1.1 percent).

The only two industry that posted job gains over the last year were education and health services and the government sector. Employers in the first increased the number of jobs they provide by 2.1 percent over the course of the last year. Government jobs increased by 0.8 percent, which could have something to do with the Census Bureau hiring for their up-coming survey.