From Springfield and its neighboring communities, Massachusetts received 320 applications from people seeking emergency unemployment benefits as a result of the June 1 tornadoes.
Massachusetts added 10,400 jobs in June, but the unemployment rate remained unchanged from May at 7.6 percent.
The rate was 7.8 percent in April, according to statistics released Thursday by the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
Joanne F. GoldsteinBoth the number of unemployed people in the state and the unemployment rate are the lowest since February 2009.
From Springfield and its neighboring communities, the state received 320 applications from people seeking emergency unemployment benefits as a result of the June 1 tornadoes, state Labor Secretary Joanne F. Goldstein said Thursday in a phone interview. That’s fewer than were expected, Goldstein said.
City-by-city unemployment statistics for June won’t be available until Tuesday.
Karl J. Petrick, an assistant professor of economics at Western New England University, said the June numbers were unimpressive.
Karl Petrick“We created just enough jobs to not decrease the unemployment rate,” said Petrick said.
What’s more, national statistics show that companies are not increasing overtime for existing workers or hiring temporary workers in high numbers.
“Those are all the things companies do before they hire,” Petrick said. “They are not hiring because they are worried about demand.”
Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said that new claims for unemployment benefits rose 10,000 across the country to a seasonally adjusted 418,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dipped to 421,250. Applications have topped 400,000 for 15 weeks, a sign of sluggish hiring.
On Wednesday, Baystate Health announced that was eliminating 354 jobs. Of those, 185 are open positions that will not be filled. There will be 169 layoffs.
“Clearly, we don’t want to see any job cuts, especially in Springfield,” Goldstein said.
The state’s Rapid Response Team will help laid-off workers find new jobs, Goldstein said. But she didn’t yet know what professions and job descriptions were cut.
Ellis S. “Bud” Delphin, director of programs and services at CareerPoint career center in Holyoke said demand is high for skilled health-care workers, including nurses and technicians. He’s also seeing high demand for skilled machinists who can operate computer-controlled machines in a precision-manufacturing environment.
Goldstein said the statewide jobs numbers show growth across multiple sectors of the economy. Manufacturing jobs were up 2,900 in June. The construction sector gained 2,500 jobs. Professional, scientific and business services gained 2,300 jobs. Leisure and hospitality gained 1,400 jobs. Financial activities gained 1,200 and health and human services gained 1,100 jobs.
Government added just 100 jobs.
There were job losses in trade, transportation and utilities and various miscellaneous categories.