Massachusetts employers hired at a rapid clip for the second straight month in April, recording the best back-to-back job gains in more than four years.
Employers added 8,500 jobs last month, after an upwardly revised increase of 7,200 jobs in March, according to federal data released Friday by Governor Maura Healey’s administration. It was the biggest two-month hiring spurt since January and February of 2022, and mirrored a pickup across the country.
The local unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.7 percent in April compared with a US rate of 4.3 percent. The state’s labor force — the number of people with a job or actively looking for one — continued a decline that began early last year. A shrinking labor force, if sustained, could constrain the state’s economy.
“Job postings activity remains strong across sectors, with encouraging signals that the Commonwealth’s high-tech industries are seeking more workers as well,” Mark Rembert, chief economist at the state’s economic research department, said in a statement.
Monthly employment data are prone to swings, especially at the state level, so looking at longer time periods can offer a more useful picture of the job market. Over the past six months, Massachusetts added 15,300 jobs. That compares with a loss of nearly 14,000 positions in the prior six months, leaving the state with a modest employment uptick over the past year.
Job gains in April were led by construction, education and health services, and professional and business services. The financial activities and information sectors saw small declines.
Monthly payroll numbers are derived from a survey of employers by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. A separate BLS survey of households showed that the ranks of the employed in the state fell by more than 44,000 since the start of the year.
The decline was driven by residents dropping out of the labor force, largely due to retirements. However, the Trump administration’s strict immigration limits and deportations are also a likely contributing factor in the smaller pool of available workers.
The state’s labor force participation rate decreased slightly to 65.6 percent last month. But among prime-age workers who are 25 to 54 years old, the group economists watch most closely, the participation rate hit 86.7 percent, the highest in a decade.
Larry Edelman can be reached at larry.edelman@globe.com.
