Alan B. Neville has been appointed state president of AARP Rhode Island. more

Brian Hunter, president of Hunter Insurance, has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. more

The Interstate 195 Redevelopment District Commission has chosen Jan Brodie, a former vice president of the Armory Revival Co. now working for a Boston nonprofit developer, to be its first executive director, Commission Chairman Colin Kane confirmed Thursday. more

An analysis of Rhode Island’s tax data, released Thursday by the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, shows more growth in the state’s private sector employment during the fourth quarter of 2012 than was originally estimated. more

The survey responses of about 200 furloughed state-employed professionals’ who were denied input in managing their time off showed higher emotional exhaustion and lower work performance even after returning to work. more

Applications for unemployment benefits in the U.S. plunged more than forecast last week unwinding a surge caused by the Easter holiday and spring break at schools. more

Unemployment rates fell year over year in February in 187 of the United States’ 372 metropolitan areas, including the Providence-Fall River-Warwick metro, according to the latest non-seasonally adjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, reported Wednesday. more

Women in the Rhode Island make, on average, 85 cents to every dollar paid to men, according to a new report released by the National Partnership for Women and Families. more

Rev. Eugene Dyszlewski, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, was recently installed as minister of social justice at First Unitarian Church of Providence. Dyszlewski, an advocate of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, is the chair of the Rhode Island Religious Coalition for Marriage Equality and has served on the board of directors of Marriage Equality Rhode Island. He is also the founding coordinator of East Bay PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), and is the recipient of the Rhode Island Pride Committee’s 2008 Pyramid of Pride Award for outstanding contribution to the GLBT community. more

Dennis Martell has been named director of professional relations and network development at Altus Dental. more