New England jobless rate little changed in May

By PBN Staff
Twitter: @ProvBusNews

BOSTON –New England’s unemployment rate was little changed in May, according to the New England Information Office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Year-over-year, the region’s unemployment rate dropped 1.1 percentage point to 6.8 percent.

Nationally, the jobless rate was 8.2 percent, just 0.8 percentage points lower than May 2011.

In May, five New England states – including Rhode Island – posted jobless rates that were significantly different from the nation rate.

Rhode Island, which has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, posted 11 percent. Vermont posted 4.6 percent, New Hampshire posted 5 percent, Massachusetts posted 6 percent and Maine posted 7.4 percent.

Rhode Island was one of only five states and the District of Columbia with unemployment rates measurably higher than the national 8.2 percent average.

From April, no New England state posted a statistically significant unemployment rate decrease.