Jobless rate in Prov.-Warwick metro dips to 7% in February, as labor force posts decline as well

JOBLESS RATES were lower in February in 366 of the 387 metropolitan areas in the country, including in the Providence-Warwick metropolitan area, which saw its rate decline 2 percentage points year over year to 7 percent.
JOBLESS RATES were lower in February in 366 of the 387 metropolitan areas in the country, including in the Providence-Warwick metropolitan area, which saw its rate decline 2 percentage points year over year to 7 percent.

PROVIDENCE – Jobless rates were lower in February in 366 of the 387 metropolitan areas in the country, including in the Providence-Warwick metropolitan area, which saw its rate decline 2 percentage points year over year to 7 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, although the labor force grew only slightly in the time period.
The Providence-Warwick metro was among 55 other areas that had rate decreases of at least 2 percentage points.
The rate was still above the national unemployment rate, however, which was 5.8 percent, a 1.2 percentage point drop from the prior-year period.
The Providence-Warwick metro was among 172 metropolitan areas that had unemployment rates above the national rate, as was the Norwich, New London-Westerly metropolitan area, which reported a jobless rate of 7.6 percent in February, a half-percentage point drop from the prior-year period.
The Providence-Warwick metro also saw its number of unemployed residents drop to 47,300 in February from 61,200 in February 2014.
Lincoln, Neb., had the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 2.4 percent, while El Centro, Calif., had the highest at 20 percent.
As for employees on nonfarm payrolls, not seasonally adjusted, the Providence-Warwick area experienced a 1.5 percent increase year over year, to 558,800 from 550,800, ranking it among 355 metropolitan areas that had over-the-year increases. Among those areas, New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa. had the largest increase, with 162,300 jobs, while the largest percentage gain in employment occurred in Midland, Texas at 8.8 percent.
The largest over-the-year decrease in employment was in Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Miss., with a 2,600 drop, and the largest percentage decrease in employment was in Great Falls, Mont. at 2.3 percent.
The Providence-Warwick metro saw the size of the labor force fall by 600 from February 2014 to February 2015 to 676,800, although that number represented an increase of 500 from January of this year. Rhode Island, on the other hand, saw both year-over-year and month-over-month declines. The labor force shrank by 4,100 from February 2014 to February 2015, and lost 1,500 people from January to February of this year.

No posts to display