DLT: Jobless rate revised for December to 5.4% from 5.1%

PROVIDENCE – The unemployment rate for the end of 2015 has been revised to 5.4 percent, three-tenths of a percentage point higher than previously reported by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, DLT said Tuesday.
DLT’s labor market information division worked with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to revise data, due to be available March 10. Statistics this year have been revised back to January of 2011, DLT said.
In 2015, the Rhode Island jobless rate had shown consistent improvement from 6.5 percent in January to a low of 5.1 percent in December, but the revised estimates show December ending three-tenths of a percentage point higher.
During the first quarter of the year, unemployment rates remained unchanged but were revised upward in the remaining nine months. The largest upward revisions occurred during the last quarter of the year, with three-tenths of a percentage point increases in October and November as well as December, DLT said.
The number of unemployed estimates also had been underestimated every month of the year by on average 806 people per month, the revisions show. The year ended with 30,000 unemployed Rhode Islanders, 1,600 more than previous estimates. However, over the year, the number of unemployed residents fell 6,500 instead of the previous estimated drop of 8,800.
That makes the benchmarked December unemployment the lowest level since July 2007, DLT reported.
It remains unclear until full revisions are released on March 10 whether Rhode Island gained the 8,400 jobs for 2015 that the DLT reported last month, said DLT Spokesman Michael Healey.

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