The Baker-Polito Administration, MassHire, and Commonwealth Corporation are hosting 10 events across the state through May to help connect employers to new and existing workforce supports from the Commonwealth. The roadshows will be a unique opportunity to hear from MA workforce leaders and for employers to share their perspectives with them. Click here to register for a roadshow coming near you!

The first Replenishing Employer iNvestment in Education & Training (RENEW) Demonstration Grant through Commonwealth Corporation has been awarded to Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges (MACC). This grant will be used to support MACC's and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership's Be Mass Competitive initiative. You can read the press release here.

On April 15th, the state released the unemployment rate for March 2022 and the revised rate for February 2022. Click here to read the April 15th state press release. Massachusetts' March rate decreased from February to 4.4 percent, 0.7 percentage point higher than the national rate. The MA labor force participation rate was up 0.1 of a percentage point to 66 percent, up 0.8 percentage point from the prior year. The labor force increased by 2,700 from February. Since March 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates Massachusetts gained 186,400 jobs. The largest over the year gains occurred in Leisure and Hospitality; Professional, Scientific, and Business Services; and Education and Health Services. Financial services was the only sector to see losses. Click here to read the state press release. Local unemployment estimates for March were released on 4/19. The most recent local press release can be found here.

Economic Update: The UMass Donahue Institute issued their latest edition of MassBenchmarks recently, with an updated design. Click here to view the publication, which includes analysis of the Massachusetts economy, housing price trends, and more.

On April 21st, the state released the monthly unemployment claim data for the month ending April 2nd. Between March 5th and April 2nd the state had 15,406 initial claims for regular unemployment insurance and 265,612 continued claims. The largest decreases in initial claims were in Transportation & Warehousing, Construction, and Food & Accommodation. The largest decreases in continued claims were in Construction, Food & Accommodation and Administrative & Waste. Click here for the claims press release.

On April 1st Democrats on the House Education and Labor Committee introduced their WIOA reauthorization legislation: Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022. To learn more see:

MWA continues to have concerns with the final version of the legislation marked up by the Committee. Our priorities center around: (1) local flexibility; (2) full funding; (3) reimaging the career center network; and (4) data and performance. We have started meetings with staff from our congressional delegation to voice our concerns and these priorities. We will work with the MWA public policy committee as this legislation moves to the full House.

DOL Releases Proposed Wagner Peyser Rule Change  

On April 21st the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) formally published a long anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). This proposed regulatory change is related to the staffing requirements as part of the Wagner-Peyser (WP) Act. The proposed rule would require states to use state merit staff to provide WP Employment Service (ES) services including states that previously operating under a different staffing model (Colorado, Michigan, and 4 regions in Massachusetts). Comments on this proposal are due June 21,2022 (60 days). ETA will then review the comments, draft a response, and will publish a final rule at a later date. There is no set timeline for when or if a final rule would be released.

To read the proposed rule click here. To review a helpful summary prepared by our colleagues at the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) click here. MWA will be working with our members and other national and state associations to draft comments.

Want to learn more about MWA and what we do? Join us for our virtual "Meet MWA!" session on Friday, April 29th at 10AM. In this short webinar, we go over how we lead, advocate, and convene on behalf of the Massachusetts workforce system, and the benefits of membership.

Click here to register.

On Saturday, April 23rd, Kevin Lynn, Executive Director of MassHire Springfield Career Center, received the Social Justice Award for Economic Development from MLK Jr. Family Services. This year's awards honored Executive Director Ronn Johnson, who passed away in January from a COVID-19 related illness. Ronn was a former longtime MassHire Springfield Career Center Board Member and his sister, JoAnn Miller, works for the Career Center today. Listen to Kevin's remarks here on YouTube (starting at 1:45:40) and read local news coverage of the virtual ceremony here.

There are so many job postings and funding announcements, we moved our News from Around the Sector section to our website, where you can access the news, jobs, funding announcements and more anytime throughout the month. Go to: www.massworkforce.com/around-the-sector.