TradeAtlas · Trade Market Report

Massachusetts

Data through June 2026Published August 2026Digest g0.1 · Provisional

Compiled from BLS, Census, Indeed Hiring Lab. Government statistics publish on a lag, so the latest month shown trails the calendar; every figure carries its own “data through” date.

This is the most recent edition. Newer government data for this state has not been published yet.

This month

Residential building permits rose 240.8% year over year, to 1,873 units authorized in June 2026. Census Construction employment in Massachusetts reached 170,500 jobs in June 2026, up 2.5% from a year earlier. BLS Electrical is the tightest trade in Massachusetts this month, with a Trade Demand Index of 83.3. TDI

01 · Indicators

Construction employment
170,500
+2.5% YoY
BLS · Jun 2026
Building permits
1,873
+240.8% YoY
Census · Jun 2026
Unemployment
4.4%
+0.0% YoY
BLS · Jun 2026
Job postings index
83.8
−2.7% YoY
Indeed Hiring Lab · Jun 2026

02 · Tightest trades in Massachusetts

Explore every trade and state →
#TradeIndexVs. 50 states
1Electrical83.3Shortage
2Flooring82.2Shortage
3Solar80.5Critical
4Windows & Doors76.9Shortage
5General Contracting75.7Shortage
6HVAC75.7Shortage
7Plumbing75.3Shortage
8Garage Doors69.1Critical
9Fire Protection65.6Shortage
10Roofing63.2Shortage
11Pool & Spa62.3Shortage
12Concrete & Masonry62.1Tightening
13Appliance Repair59.4Tightening
14Painting56.7Tightening
15Landscaping52.7Tightening
16Insulation48.9Shortage
17Pest Control47.8Critical
18Cleaning & Restoration46.6Shortage
19Locksmith43.7Shortage
20Fencing43.5Tightening

Index 0–100, methodology v0.2 · Band is this state’s percentile among the 50 states for that trade · Wages adjusted by BEA regional price parity

03 · Desks

Jobs

Open roles and hiring momentum in this market.

Massachusetts in the Trade Demand Index →
Projects

Federal construction awards and permit activity.

Coming in a later edition
Policy

Licensing, wage and safety rules changing in this state.

Contractor licensing by state →
Companies

Contractors active in this market.

Company directory →
Sources in this edition
  • BLS · Construction employment, seasonally adjusted (BLS CES, via FRED) · through 2026-06
  • Census · Private housing units authorized by permit (Census BPS, via FRED) · through 2026-06
  • BLS · Unemployment rate (BLS LAUS, via FRED) · through 2026-06
  • Indeed Hiring Lab · Job-postings index, all sectors (Indeed Hiring Lab, CC BY 4.0) · through 2026-06
  • TradeAtlas · Trade Demand Index, methodology v0.2 — how it is built
Colophon

This product uses the FRED® API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This product uses Census Bureau data but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau. Employment and unemployment data are published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job-postings data © Indeed Hiring Lab, CC BY 4.0. Every sentence above is a fixed template filled from those series; the numbers behind each one are published with it. The report is TradeAtlas’s own derivative product; no source named here endorses it.

Edition 2026-06 · digest g0.1 · computed 2026-08-25