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Mass. Unemployment Climbs Even As State Adds Jobs
![A man walks by a career center storefront on June 5 in Lawrence, Mass. (Elise Amendola/AP)](https://wordpress.wbur.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/jobs-1000x667.jpg)
Massachusetts employers added about 58,000 jobs in May after a dramatic decline in April, but the unemployment rate increased over the same span to a record 16.3%, federal labor officials announced Friday.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Massachusetts set a new record in state history with a 16.3% unemployment rate, higher than the 15.1% reported last month. That put the Bay State in the minority: 38 other states saw their unemployment rates decrease in May.
Total non-farm employment, calculated through a different program than the unemployment rate, increased in Massachusetts to about 3.08 million last month, federal officials said.