BLS: Jobless rate falls over the year in metro area as labor force grows

JOBLESS RATES were lower in March than a year earlier in 18 states and stable in 32 states and the District of Columbia, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
JOBLESS RATES were lower in March than a year earlier in 18 states and stable in 32 states and the District of Columbia, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

PROVIDENCE – Jobless rates were lower in 322 of the nation’s 387 metropolitan areas in November, including in the Providence-Warwick metro, which saw unemployment fall to 4.9 percent from 6.3 percent in November 2014, according to statistics released by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics this week.

Fifty-four areas had rates higher than a year earlier, and another 11 had no change, the BLS said.

The Providence metro’s rate was slightly higher than the national unemployment rate in November, which was 4.8 percent, compared with 5.5 percent in November 2014.

Ames, Iowa, and Fargo, N.D.-Minn., had the lowest unemployment rates in November at 1.9 percent each. El Centro, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., had the highest unemployment rates at 20.4 percent and 20.0 percent, respectively.

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The number of unemployed in the Providence metro slipped to 33,700 in November, a decrease from 42,900 reported during the same month a year earlier.

The civilian labor force grew to 682,800 in the Providence metro in November, an increase from 679,700 a year earlier.

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