Mass. unemployment grows as more people seek work

The weather wasn’t the only thing that got colder last month.

Massachusetts unemployment moved higher in December as the number of people searching for a job spiked.

The jobless rate rose to 3.2 percent last month from 2.9 percent in November, according to data released Friday by the US and state labor departments. The increase came as the labor force — the number of residents with a job or looking for work — expanded by 13,900, the biggest jump since January 2022.

The labor force often swells amid a cooling economy as workers seek a job before hiring dries up. Massachusetts employers added 25,000 jobs in the last half of 2023, down from nearly 49,000 in the first half.

The influx of workers is welcomed news for employers, some of whom have struggled to fill positions.

“Hiring became easier on balance, and attrition rates fell to below-average levels,” the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston said this week in its January summary of New England economic conditions. The Boston Fed said its business contacts “were not planning for major changes in employment moving forward, and wage pressures were expected to ease somewhat.”

The state’s unemployment rate in December was a half-percentage point below the national rate of 3.7 percent. Employers added 4,300 jobs last month. The gains were led by the education and health services sector, which added 3,500 workers, and the information sector, which added 900 jobs.

The unemployment rate in Massachusetts and across the country is likely to tick higher as the US economy slows. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect growth as measured by gross domestic product to fall to 1.3 percent this year from about 2.4 percent in 2023.

The state’s labor force participation rate reached 64.9 percent last month, the highest since March but well below the average of 67.1 percent in 2019, before the onset of COVID.