Massachusetts experienced the same 4.1% unemployment rate in December as the country as a whole, officials said, ending a nearly two-year streak of comparatively lower joblessness in the Bay State.

Labor officials announced that the Massachusetts unemployment rate last month inched upward one-tenth of a percentage point, from 4% in November. The national unemployment rate ticked downward over the same span from 4.2% to 4.1%.

The last time the statewide rate was equal to or greater than the national rate was in March 2023, when both stood at 3.5%, though in several months during that span Massachusetts fared better than the country by only a fraction of a percentage point.

Bay State employers added 6,000 jobs in December, officials also said, after shedding a revised 1,500 positions in November.

Coke gets nostalgic with orange cream

A year after the launch of the short-lived Coca-Cola Spiced, Coke is adding another new flavor to its lineup.

Coca-Cola Orange Cream is scheduled to go on sale Feb. 10 in the U.S. and Canada. It will be sold in regular and zero sugar varieties.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. said Monday that it developed the soda, which mixes cola with orange and vanilla flavors, in response to growing consumer demand for the comforting, nostalgic flavor.

Orange cream — first introduced with the Creamsicle ice cream bar in 1937 – has enjoyed a recent renaissance. Olipop, a probiotic soda, introduced an orange cream flavor in 2021. Carvel reintroduced its Orange Dreamy Creamy ice cream last year for the first time since 1972. Wendy’s also debuted an Orange Dreamsicle Frosty last spring.