The state lost a total of 4,000 jobs in May, 2,600 of them in government, according to figures released Thursday by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
This is an updated version of a story posted at 11:42 this morning.
SPRINGFIELD – Statewide unemployment fell to 7.6 percent in May, but largely because the work force itself shrank.
The national unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in both April and May.
The state lost a total of 4,000 jobs in May, 2,600 of them in government, according to figures released Thursday by the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
Robert A. NakosteenThe work force, the total number of people working and looking for work, fell by 8,000, said Robert A. Nakosteen, a professor of economics and finance at the Isenberg School of Finance at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
“It’s not a good sign,” Nakosteen, an editor of MassBenchmarks, a study of the state’s economy, said. “This may be a function of discouragement. People haven’t been able to find work so they give up.”
Contrary to what many believe, people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits still count as unemployed and as part of the labor force as long as they keep looking. Data on who is looking is gathered through a phone survey.
But Nakosteen said some people stop looking once their unemployment insurance runs out.
The figures do not reflect the impact of the June 1 tornadoes. City-by-city unemployment figures will not be available until June 21.
Springfield’s unemployment rate fell in April to 11.6 percent, down 1.2 percentage points from 12.8 percent in March.
Joanne F. Goldstein, state secretary of labor and workforce development, said the leisure and hospitality industry lost 3,300 jobs statewide, the first monthly loss since January. She theorizes that employers in this industry staffed up in March and April for the spring and summer rush.
“This is the correction,” she said in a phone interview.
Professional, scientific and business services gained 2,300 jobs, construction gained 1,000 jobs and manufacturing gained 900 jobs, according to the release.
Nakosteen said manufacturing has been strong nationally because exchange rates are making American-goods less expensive overseas and foreign goods more expensive in the United States.
Government lost 2,600 jobs in May.
“All of our economic indicators are showing job growth,” Goldstein said.
Nationally, new applications for unemployment insurance fell last week 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 414,000, the second drop in three weeks, according to The Associated Press.
Applications have been above 400,000 for 10 straight weeks, evidence that the job market is weak compared to earlier this year.
In Springfield, there were 442 jobs posted at FutureWorks, a one-stop career center. That’s a 40 percent improvement from May 2010, but a decrease from April 2011, said Kevin E. Lynn, the manager of business services at FutureWorks.
The average wage at hire for full- and part-time workers was $13.19, down from $13.75 in April.
Nakosteen said it is clear that the National economic recovery stalled under the weight of prices for gas and food. Massachusetts, especially the eastern third of the state, had been bucking the trend and growing faster, however.
Nakosteen said might be hard t get a handle on the tornado’s impact on local job markets. On one hand, businesses had to close. But on the other hand construction and tree-removal companies have added staff.