R.I. again has largest year-over-<br>year drop in jobless rate in June

RHODE ISLAND once again led the way in the nation with the largest decline in its jobless rate for the 12 months ended June 30.
RHODE ISLAND once again led the way in the nation with the largest decline in its jobless rate for the 12 months ended June 30.

WASHINGTON – For the second consecutive month in June, Rhode Island had the largest year-over-year percentage-point decline in its unemployment rate among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The Ocean State’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate of 5.9 percent in June was 1.8 percentage points less than the 7.7 percent recorded in June 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Despite the large decline, however, Rhode Island’s unemployment rate tied for 13th highest in the nation, along with Arizona and Illinois.
Rhode Island joined 41 other states and the District of Columbia in recording declines in their jobless rates. Three states had no change and five saw increases in the 12-month period that ended June 30. The national rate for June was 5.3 percent, a decline of 0.8 percentage points over the year.
All the New England states saw declines in their unemployment rates, with the largest besides Rhode Island coming in Massachusetts, which fell to 4.6 percent from 5.7 percent. Maine saw a full percentage-point decline to 4.7 percent, while Connecticut fell 0.8 percentage points to 5.7 percent, and both New Hampshire and Vermont recorded one-half a percentage point drop to 3.8 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. The lowest jobless rate was posted in Nebraska, at 2.6 percent, while the highest was in West Virginia, at 7.4 percent.
An additional 13,400 Rhode Islanders found work in the period for a total of 525,600, an increase of 2.6 percent. Only two states saw declines in nonfarm payroll employment from June 2014 to June 2015, according to the BLS, with the largest percentage increase in the number of people working happening in Utah (4.3 percent) and Nevada and Washington (3.5 percent each). West Virginia and Wyoming saw declines over the 12 months of 1.2 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
From June 2014 through last month, Rhode Island’s labor force increased 0.6 percent to 558,607. Massachusetts saw its labor force grow 2.2 percent to 3.6 million, while Connecticut’s labor force increased in size 1.9 percent over the year to 1.9 million.

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  1. For a more detailed analysis of the employment/underemployment/ unemployment situation;

    Refer to The Bureau Of Labor Statistics; http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm …which is updated quarterly…
    …as of 04/24/2015, Rhode Island’s Employment/Underemployment/Unemployment Rate
    of measurement at Level U6 is: TWELVE PONT NINE CENT (12.9%)….

    ….and as of 7/02/2015, the National Employment/Unemployment
    Rate of measurement at Level U6 is: TEN POINT FIVE PER CENT (10.5%)…
    (further details can be found at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm which is updated monthly….)

    The next publication of the Employment/Underemployment/Unemployment situation, broken down by State level,
    covering the previous four quarters ending in June 2015, is tentatively scheduled for Friday, July 24, 2015, so stay tuned…jkp