NEW: Unemployment Drops to 10.4 Percent
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The RI Department of Labor and Training announced today that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October 2012 dropped to 10.4 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the September 2012 rate and eight-tenths of a percentage point from the October 2011 rate. This is the sixth consecutive monthly decrease in the state’s unemployment rate, and represents Rhode Island’s lowest unemployment rate since April 2009.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 7.9 percent in October 2012, up one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month and down one percentage point over the year.
The number of unemployed RI residents—those residents classified as available for and actively seeking employment—was unchanged from the revised September figure of 58,700. Over the year, the number of unemployed dropped by 4,500.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe number of employed RI residents was up 5,200 over the September figures, increasing to 504,700 in October. This represents the third consecutive monthly increase in employed Rhode Islanders, and the largest monthly increase since the Bureau of Labor Statistics implemented the current methodology in 1976. Over the year, the number of employed RI residents increased 5,300 from October 2011.
The RI labor force totaled 563,400 in October 2012, up 5,300 from September 2012 and up 800 from October 2011, marking the first over-the-year increase in the state’s labor force since November 2010. The state’s labor force is at its highest level since June 2011.
