Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, Massachusetts Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Boston fell 0.1 percentage points in October 2018 to 3.0%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.5 percentage points lower than the Massachusetts rate. The unemployment rate in Boston peaked in December 2009 at 8.1% and is now 5.1 percentage points lower. You can also compare Boston unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	October 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	3.7%	0.0	-0.4
Massachusetts	3.5%	-0.1	0.0
Boston	3.0%	-0.1	-0.2

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with October 2018 data as November metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Boston, Massachusetts, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Boston, Massachusetts Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Boston peaked in January 2010 at 203,691. There are now 118,529 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 82,495 in January 2018, the number of unemployed has now grown by 2,667. Boston employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Boston, Massachusetts) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	October 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
Boston	85,162	-1,345	-1,106

Number of Unemployed Persons

Boston, Massachusetts Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Massachusetts Unemployment Rate	Boston Unemployment Rate	Boston Unemployed
November 2018	3.7%	—	—	—
October 2018	3.7%	3.5%	3.0%	85,162
September 2018	3.7%	3.6%	3.1%	86,507
August 2018	3.9%	3.6%	3.3%	93,659
July 2018	3.9%	3.6%	3.3%	94,294
June 2018	4.0%	3.5%	3.3%	91,414
May 2018	3.8%	3.5%	3.1%	87,926
April 2018	3.9%	3.5%	3.2%	88,584
March 2018	4.1%	3.5%	3.2%	88,777
February 2018	4.1%	3.5%	3.2%	86,773
January 2018	4.1%	3.5%	3.1%	82,495
December 2017	4.1%	3.5%	3.1%	83,171