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Massachusetts no longer has the country’s highest unemployment rate

The commonwealth added more than 51,000 jobs last month after adding nearly 71,000 in July.

A man walks by a career center storefront in Lawrence this past June. AP Photo/Elise Amendola

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BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts unemployment rate that soared during the early months of the coronavius pandemic fell 4.9 percentage points in August to 11.3%, according to numbers released Friday by state and federal labor officials.

Massachusetts no longer has the highest unemployment rate in the country, a distinction that now goes to Nevada.

The August rate is significantly lower than the revised 16.2% jobless rate in Massachusetts in July, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The nationwide unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 8.4% in August.

Massachusetts added more than 51,000 jobs last month after adding nearly 71,000 in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the state continues to recover from the economic shutdown prompted by the pandemic.

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Gains occurred in education and health services; leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation, and utilities; professional, scientific, and business services; manufacturing; information; and construction.

The one loss occurred in financial activities.

Government jobs grew during the month.

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