Unemployment Rate Low At 3.5 Percent

The Massachusetts unemployment rate held at 3.5 percent in June and public officials also reported Friday that the state’s labor force participation rate is at its highest level in 10 years, with more than 100,000 residents becoming employed over the past year.

Massachusetts employers added 21,400 jobs in June and have added 63,200 jobs since June 2017, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said, citing federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The national unemployment rate in June was 4 percent.

Massachusetts employers and workers in recent months have struggled not with a dearth of jobs, but more so with trouble finding skilled workers to fill jobs and, for workers, slow growth in wages and challenging housing costs in the area.