BLS: Jobless rate falls to 6% in March in Prov. metro

JOBLESS RATES were lower in March than a year earlier in 270 of the 387 metropolitan areas, including the Providence-Warwick metropolitan area, where it dropped to 6 percent from 6.9 percent.
JOBLESS RATES were lower in March than a year earlier in 270 of the 387 metropolitan areas, including the Providence-Warwick metropolitan area, where it dropped to 6 percent from 6.9 percent.

PROVIDENCE – Jobless rates were lower in March than a year earlier in 270 of the 387 metropolitan areas, including the Providence-Warwick metropolitan area, where it dropped to 6 percent from 6.9 percent.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said jobless rates were higher in 98 metro areas and unchanged in 19 others.
Ames, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, S.D., had the lowest unemployment rates in March at 2.4 percent each. El Centro, Calif., had the highest unemployment rate, 18.6 percent. A total of 195 areas had March jobless rates below the U.S. rate of 5.1 percent, while the Providence metro was one of 181 areas that had rates above it.
The Providence metro’s civilian labor force fell slightly year over year in March to 676,443 from 676,912, while the number of unemployed dropped to 40,324 from 46,554 during the same time period.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased over the year in 332 metropolitan areas, including in the Providence metro, decreased in 51 areas and was unchanged in four areas. In the Providence metro, nonfarm payroll employment increased 2.1 percent over the year in March, to 572,600 from 561,000.

The largest over-the-year employment increase occurred in New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa., at 193,200, while the largest over-the-year percentage gain in employment occurred in Ocean City, N.J., at 9.5 percent.
The largest over-the-year decrease in employment occurred in Lafayette, La., a decline of 9,300, and the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment occurred in Casper, Wyo., a drop of 7.2 percent.

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