DLT: Jobless rate drops again in January to 5.3%

THE UNEMPLOYMENT rate declined to 5.3 percent in January, from 5.4 percent in December and 6.5 percent in January 2015, according to the state Department of Labor and Training. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING
THE UNEMPLOYMENT rate declined to 5.3 percent in January, from 5.4 percent in December and 6.5 percent in January 2015, according to the state Department of Labor and Training. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND TRAINING

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island unemployment rate for January dropped by a tenth of a percentage point to 5.3 percent compared with December, even as the number of jobs in the state fell, according to the R.I. Department of Labor and Training.
The state lost 600 jobs compared with December, the DLT reported Thursday.
The decline year over year is 1.2 percentage points, from 6.5 percent, the state reported. The change reflects the lowest unemployment rate since August of 2007.
The state also added 4,100 jobs since January of last year.
Last week, the unemployment rate for the end of 2015 was revised to 5.4 percent, three-tenths of a percentage point higher than previously reported.

According to 2015 revisions to DLT data also released Thursday, Rhode Island ended the year with an increase of 5,700 jobs, an increase of 1.2 percent over the previous year. (The DLT previously reported that Rhode Island gained 8,400 jobs.) Through the end of 2015, the state had regained 32,600 jobs since August of 2009 – 81.9 percent of the 39,800 jobs lost during the Great Recession, the state reported.

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped by a tenth of a percentage point also to 4.9 percent in January, down eight-tenths of a percentage point year over year.
Also in decline are the number of unemployed Rhode Island residents, which numbers 29,400, a drop of 600 from the revised December figure of 30,000. Year over year, the number of unemployed declined by 6,600. During January, 13,589 people collected unemployment insurance benefits, a decline from 15,579 a year ago and accounting for 39.7 percent of the total unemployed, DLT reported.
Employed residents increased in number by 200 to 522,400 from the revised December figure of 522,200, and 3,600 higher than a year ago.
The Rhode Island labor force declined by 400, however, to 551,800 in January, and dropped by 2,900 year over year.
Over the year, educational services declined by 2,400 jobs. Also losing traction were wholesale trade, -700; health care and social assistance and retail trade, both -100. On the upswing were accommodation and food services, +700; transportation and utilities, +400; arts, entertainment and recreation, +200, and information, +100.
Gov. Gina M. Raimondo released a statement regarding the jobless rate: “We still have a tall hill to climb to turn this economy around. However, we have momentum. Just yesterday, Citizens Bank announced that it will renew its investment in our state with a new corporate campus in Johnston. I will continue to hustle every day – listening to employers’ needs and working closely with the General Assembly – to invest in growth, attract new businesses, and rebuild the Rhode Island economy.”

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