NEW: Rhode Island’s Unemployment Rate Drops Again
Thursday, March 07, 2013
For the second week in a row, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT) has good news for those paying attention to the rising and falling unemployment numbers in Rhode Island.
Seven days after releasing a report that showed the state’s unemployment rate had dropped below 10 percent for the first time since February of 2009 in December of last year, the DLT is back with the January figures which dropped one-tenth of a percentage point overall.
All told, Rhode Island’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.8 percent in January as, according to the DLT, a total of 2,800 new jobs were created in the state.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Ocean State still lags drastically behind the national unemployment rate, which currently stands at 7.9 percent after a January period in which it moved up one-tenth of a percentage point, but it’s down one full percentage point from where Rhode Island was at this time last year.
The 9.8 percent unemployment rate is the lowest Rhode Island has seen since January of 2009.
The number of Rhode Island residents who are unemployed, defined as those available for and actively seeking employment, was down 700 from the December figure of 55,600 to a more-modest 54,900.
“This represents the seventh consecutive over-the-month decrease and the lowest unemployment level since January 2009,” the DLT said in its monthly report. “Over the year, the number of unemployed dropped by 5,300.”
The number of employed residents in the state also dropped, however, decreasing to 506,900 in January. Over the year, that number has increased a total of 9,000.
The RI labor force totaled 561,800 in January 2013, down 1,400 from December 2012 but up 3,700 from January 2012.
