Jobless rate falls to 9.7% in Providence metro in October

THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area dropped to 9.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted, in October. / COURTESY THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area dropped to 9.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted, in October. / COURTESY THE U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

WASHINGTON – Unemployment rates were lower in October in 329 of the nation’s 372 metropolitan areas, including the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area, according to non-seasonally adjusted data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent in the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro, not seasonally adjusted, during October. Year over year, the metro area’s unemployment rate dropped 0.8 percentage points from the 10.5 percent reported in October 2011.
The Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area’s figures were slightly less than for the state of Rhode Island, which posted a 9.9 percent unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, during the month.
(The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Rhode Island, as previously released by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, was 10.4 percent in October.)
The New Bedford metro area’s jobless rate dropped 0.5 percentage points year over year to 9.2 percent in October, not seasonally adjusted. Massachusetts as a whole saw its unemployment rate drop from 6.7 percent in October 2011 to 6.2 percent in October 2012, not seasonally adjusted.
The national unemployment rate dropped from 8.5 percent in October 2011 to 7.5 percent in October 2012, not seasonally adjusted.
During the month, 288 metropolitan areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll employment, including the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro area; 80 metro areas reported decreases and 4 exhibited no change.

No posts to display