R.I. among states with greatest jobless rates declines in January

FORTY-TWO STATES had statistically significant jobless rate declines year over year in January, but Rhode Island and Illinois experienced the largest declines at 2.1 percentage points each, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
FORTY-TWO STATES had statistically significant jobless rate declines year over year in January, but Rhode Island and Illinois experienced the largest declines at 2.1 percentage points each, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

PROVIDENCE – Forty-two states had statistically significant jobless rate declines year over year in January, but Rhode Island and Illinois experienced the largest declines at 2.1 percentage points each, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In January, Rhode Island’s jobless rate was 6.5 percent. In January 2014, it was 8.6 percent. Illinois’ unemployment rate was 6.1 percent compared with 8.2 percent during the prior-year period.
North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate in January at 2.8 percent, while Mississippi and Nevada had the highest unemployment rates at 7.1 percent each. The District of Columbia had a rate of 7.7 percent.
Overall, 21 states had jobless rates significantly lower than the national jobless rate of 5.7 percent, while 10 states, including Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia had higher rates, and 19 states had rates that were not “appreciably different from that of the nation,” the federal agency said.
Rhode Island also was among nine states that had statistically significant jobless rate changes from December 2014 to January 2015, as its rate went from 6.8 percent to 6.5 percent, a drop of three-tenths of a percentage point.

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