CRANSTON – The state’s unemployment rate reached double digits in December, jumping 0.7 percentage points to 10.0 percent – the first time it has reached that level since 1976, when the government revised the way it measures joblessness. In other words, one out of every 10 people active in the job market does not have a job.

The rate spike follows the 12th-consecutive monthly decline in the number of jobs, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training (DLT) said today in its monthly job report, as the state lost 3,000 jobs in the period.

For all of 2008, the state lost 22,000 jobs – or 4.5 percent of its total non-farm payroll employment. The DLT said the job count stood at 468,800 at the end of December.

Meanwhile, the jobless rate in Michigan – which along with Rhode Island has ranked at or near the top in the country in terms of unemployment in recent months – rose to 10.6 percent, officials in that state said yesterday. By comparison, Massachusetts’ unemployment rate last month leaped one percentage point to 6.9 percent. And the U.S. unemployment rate also continued to rise, edging up 0.4 percentage points to 7.2 percent.

DLT spokeswoman Laura Hart said that Rhode Island’s unemployment rate reached 13 percent in 1975. But, she cautioned, that calculation was made using a formula that was changed the following year. Before last month, the highest rate under the revised measurement was the 9.7 percent recorded for October and November of 1982, Hart said.

The December report said the number of Rhode Islanders on the unemployment rolls – people who were available for work and searching for a job – rose to 56,800, an increase of 3,700 compared with November. And the state’s resident employment – the number of Rhode Islanders with jobs anywhere in the country – fell to 509,400 in December, a drop of 8,100 from the preceding month.

The Ocean State’s largest job loss last month was in retail trade. Seasonally adjusted, that sector’s job count fell by 900 as retailers failed to hire at a rate typical for the holiday season, and auto dealerships and stores dealing with home improvement and furnishings cut payrolls, DLT said.

A loss of 700 jobs each was reported in manufacturing, construction, professional and business services. Financial activities lost 400 jobs, while wholesale trade and accommodation and food services lost 300 each. A loss of 100 jobs each was reported in “other services” and information.

Partly offsetting those declines were gains of 400 jobs in educational services, 300 jobs in government, 200 jobs in health care and social assistance and 100 jobs in arts, entertainment and recreation.

Losing the most jobs compared with a year ago were retail trade (-4,600), manufacturing (-3,800), professional and business services (-3,700), government (-2,100), construction (-1,600), financial activities (-1,900) and other services (-1,500).

Two sectors experienced gains for the year – health care and social assistance, and educational services, which saw increases of 800 jobs and 400 jobs, respectively.

Manufacturing-production workers in Rhode Island earned an average hourly wage of $14.05 last month, 3 cents more than in November and 7 cents more than a year ago. The state’s average manufacturing work week in December was 38.5 hours, up 0.1 hours from November but 0.9 hours shorter than a year ago, the DLT said.

Additional information about the Rhode Island labor market is available from the R.I. Department of Labor and Training at www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi. To learn more about the services, programs and grant opportunities available through the department’s Employer Service Unit – or to meet with an employer-service representative – call (888) 616-JOBS or visit www.dlt.ri.gov/employer.htm.