Job Growth in Massachusetts

The Boston Globe published an article today with some positive data on Massachusetts’ state employment rate. In February, according to the Globe, Massachusetts employers added jobs for the first month in nearly two years, and the state employment rate remained steady, ending a 22-month streak of increases. As a recruiter a Boston venture capital firm with several Boston-based expansion stage companies, I am optimistic that this data is a sign that there will be a continuing increase in job growth in 2010.

Although the state unemployment rate is still at a nearly 34-year high of 9.5 percent (the U.S. unemployment rate is 9.7 percent), it’s the first time since March 2008 that the state’s unemployment rate hasn’t increased. Another positive sign of improvement is that new claims for unemployment benefits in Massachusetts have dropped more than 30 percent from a year ago, according to the State Department.