R.I. jobless rate remains third highest in nation

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s jobless rate remained the highest in New England and the third highest in the nation in October at 7.4 percent, according to information from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nationwide, Rhode Island trailed only Georgia and Mississippi, which had jobless rates of 7.7 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, last month.
The national jobless rate was 5.8 percent. North Dakota again had the lowest rate, at 2.8 percent.

The federal bureau said that regional and state unemployment rates were “generally little changed in October,” while 34 states and the District of Columbia experienced unemployment rate decreases from September, five states experienced increases and 11 states had no change.
Compared with statistics from October 2013, 42 states had unemployment-rate decreases, five states had increases and three states had no change.
Rhode Island’s unemployment rate in October was lower than September’s rate, and lower compared with a year ago. It dropped two-tenths of a percentage point in October, after landing at 7.6 percent for both September and August. In October 2013, the Ocean State’s jobless rate was 9.4 percent.
Rhode Island’s jobless rate has been third highest in the country since August. July had marked the first time since October 2013 that the state was bumped out of the top spot for joblessness.
Rhode Island was among the top three states for job losses from September to October. The largest over-the-month job declines occurred in Montana and Nevada (-0.6 percent each), followed by Rhode Island at -0.5 percent, or 2,600 jobs, from 479,000 to 476,500.
Other New England jobless rates are as follows: New Hampshire, 4.2 percent; Vermont, 4.4 percent; Maine, 5.8 percent; Massachusetts, 6 percent; and Connecticut, 6.4 percent.

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  1. For a more detailed analysis of this story; Refer to
    The Bureau Of Labor Statistics;
    http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm …which is updated quarterly…
    as of 10/24/2014, Rhode Island’s Employment/Unemployment Rate
    of measurement at Level U6 is: FOURTEEN POINT FOUR PER CENT (14.4%)
    and as of 11/7/2014, the National Employment/Unemployment Rate of measurement at
    at Level U6 is: ELEVEN POINT FIVE PERCENT (11.5%)
    (further details at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
    which is updated monthly)…..jkp