Massachusetts Knowledge Sectors Lag for 3rd Year, With 25,000 Jobs Missing in Business Services
Updated
Updated · The Boston Globe · Jun 8
Massachusetts Knowledge Sectors Lag for 3rd Year, With 25,000 Jobs Missing in Business Services
1 articles · Updated · The Boston Globe · Jun 8
Summary
Massachusetts added 10,600 jobs in the year through April, but its core knowledge industries remained below post-pandemic peaks for a third straight year despite a broader hiring rebound.
Professional and business services showed the deepest shortfall, down 25,000 jobs from peak levels; information was down 10,000, finance 7,500, and private education 1,800.
Health care was the main exception, adding more than 3,000 jobs this year, while construction, retail and manufacturing expanded and leisure and hospitality cut jobs every month in 2026.
High interest rates, shifting US trade policy, an expensive business climate and Trump administration pressure on higher education and life-sciences funding are weighing on employers, with AI also reshaping hiring plans.
AI accounted for 22% of US job cuts through May, Challenger data show, though layoffs were roughly flat from a year earlier and job openings rose to their highest level in nearly two years.